Complete Draft

Layered Performativity in New Songs from the Jade Terrace (Yutai xinyong):

A Discussion on the Compilation, Poems on Female Entertainers, and the Potential Female Readership of the Anthology

Lulu Yu

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts

Chinese Literature

Department of East Asian Studies

University of Alberta

Abstract

The Yutai xinyong is traditionally thought of as a poetry anthology on women that w compiled by a male compiler and intended for male literati readers to read. This study proposes and examines another possibility: the Yutai xinyong was probably compiled for the Southern

Dynasties palace ladies to read. Without foreseeing their poems on female entertainers would be selected into an anthology for palace ladies to read, the Yutai xinyong poets wrote these poems for a different purpose. While male poets, as spectators, composed poems depicting the performance that they had just watched, they did not seek an accurate portrayal of the female entertainers but rather a performative representation which presented poets themselves to their potential spectators — emperor and princes. After these poems on female entertainers recirculated back to the potential female readers in the Southern Dynasties, the compositions of the possible contemporary female reader-poets indicate that their poems on women are not only influenced by the works written by male poets but also attempt to present another poetic performance to reconstruct the female image created by male poets. !iii

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Zeb

Raft, who has provided me with enormous intellectual stimulation and penetrating criticism since my undergraduate studies and whose understanding and patience added considerably to my graduate experience. I am sincerely grateful to my co-supervise, Dr. Daniel Fried, for the assistance, encouragement, and insightful inspiration on literature that he has offered me through the years. I am also truly thankful to Dr. Walter Davis for taking time out of his busy schedule to join my thesis committee as well as his continued support in my scholarly development.

Finally, my gratitude goes to my parents for their consideration and loving support on the road to pursuing my academic dreams. !v

Table of Contents

Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………ii

Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………………iii

Conventions.………………………………………………………………………………………iv

CHAPTER 1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………………….1

1.1 The Compiler ………………………………………………………………….1

1.2 Chinese and Western Scholarship on Yutai xinyong ..…………………………4

1.3 Approaches and Overview of Chapter .………………………………………..9

CHAPTER 2 The Preface of Yutai xinyong And the Social and Cultural Context .…………….15

2.1 The Image and Ethos of Women in the Six Dynasties ……………………….16

2.2 The Education of Palace Ladies and furen ji Work .…………………………26

2.3 The Preface of Yutai xinyong and the Intention of Compilation ……………..28

2.4 Coda ………………………………………………………………………….41

CHAPTER 3 “His Composition”: Poems on Female Entertainers by Male Poets ..……………43

3.1 At Banquet: Courtesan and / or Poe ………………………………………….45

3.2 The Power of Literary Competence ………………………………………….48

3.3 Her and His Performance ……………………………………………………52

3.4 The Patron and “His Courtesans” ……………………………………………56

3.5 Coda ………………………………………………………………………….63

CHAPTER 4 “Her Response”: Female Readers’ Reception .…………………………………..65

4.1 Shen Yue vs. Shen Manyuan …………………………………………………69

4.2 Liu Xiaochuo vs. Liu Lingxian ………………………………………………76 !vi

4.3 Coda ………………………………………………………………………….81

CHAPTER 5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………83

Bibliography ..……………………………………………………………………………………87

!iv

Conventions

I have used Wu Zhaoyi and Cheng Yan’s edition of Yutai xinyong jianzhu

. For the translations of the excerpts from the Shishuo xinyu and the quotations from the Lunyu , I have cited Richard B. Mather and Burton Watson’s translations respectively. As for the preface of the Yutai xinyong and the anthologized poems discussed in this thesis, I provide my own annotated translations. In addition to hard-copy books, I have also used materials from two databases: Scripta Sinica and Chinese Text Project in this draft version. !1

Chapter One

Introduction

New Songs from the Jade Terrace (Yutai xinyong ) is a poetry anthology said to have been compiled by Xu Ling (507-583) in the Southern Dynasties. As the title indicates, this anthology mainly collects the so-called new songs, that is, lyrics and poems composed during its contemporary Southern Dynasties period. As most of these anthologized Southern Dynasties compositions are palace-style poetry —- which is a popular poetry genre focusing on depicting beautiful women and scenery in the Southern Dynasties, the Yutai xinyong is generally regarded as a representative anthology of palace-style poetry. However, an exclusive collection of palace- style genre may not be a proper definition for the Yutai xinyong, since three out of ten chapters in the anthology actually are poems composed by pre-Southern Dynasties poets. And a more proper and comprehensive summary of the content of the Yutai xinyong comes from Ji Rongshu's

(1685-1764) writing in his Collation of New Songs from the Jade Terrace (Yutai xinyong kaoyi

): “all the anthologized works contain words about skirts and rouge powder that can be used for composing love poetry; those non-love poems anthologized in the book must also have words and lines concerning boudoir. , , .

, .” 1 In other words, this actually is a collection that devotes almost entirely to poems on women and love.

The Compiler

1 Ji Rongshu , Yutai xinyong kaoyi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), juan 9. !2

It has commonly been accepted that Xu Ling was the compiler of the anthology. Xu Ling was the son of a Liang official, Xu Chi 友 (472-549). Because of Xu Chi’s extraordinary morality and literary competence, Emperor Wu of Liang selected him as the advisor accompanying the young Prince Jin’an, Xiao Gang (503-551, later Emperor Jianwen of

Liang ). Xu Chi became a loyal follower of Xiao Gang and a senior member of the prince’s literary salon in the next few decades. And Xu Chi was also thought to be the inventor and proponent of palace-style poetry, as his biography in Nanshi writes: “Xu Chi’s literature style was so special, the whole spring bureau (residence of heir apparent) emulated it. The name of palace-style started from this. 友, , , .”2

According to Xu Ling’s biography in the Chenshu , he was already renowned for his great erudition and literary talent at a young age. Xiao Gang took Xu Ling with him as advisor when he stationed in border area, Yongzhou 都. After Xiao Gang became heir apparent in 531,

Xu Ling was appointed as “Scholar at the Eastern Palace” (Donggong xueshi ) and later took the position of “Common-duty Cavalier Attendant in Ordinary” (Tongzhi sanqi changshi

不). In 548, Xu Ling was sent to the Northern Wei as the envoy of the Liang. He was detained in the north until 555, two years before the fall of the Liang. Soon after returning to the south, Xu Ling joined the “rebellion” against Emperor Wu of Chen who was then a

2 Li Yanshou , Nanshi 62.1521. Scripta Sinica. !3 powerful general controlling the Liang court. But he was forgiven by Emperor Wu of Chen and the latter promoted him to a couple of high official posts after the founding of the Chen Dynasty.3

Both Nanshi and Chenshu record Xu Ling’s literary talent and his cultural participation: when Xiao Gang was heir apparent, he compiled Record of the Discourse at the Hall of Forever

Spring (Changchun dian yiji ) and Xu Ling was asked to write the preface for the book; while still staying at the Eastern Palace as heir apparent, the last emperor of Chen often ordered Xu Ling to give lectures on the Pancavimsati Sahasrika Prajnaparamita sutra

and Xu Ling was undefeatable in all the debates with famous monks; moreover, according to the official histories, almost all the important government and military documents and imperial edicts in the Chen Dynasty were composed by Xu Ling; every time when there was a new writing by Xu Ling coming out, people would collect and recite it; and the writings of Xu

Ling were even circulated to the Northern Dynasties, although most of them were dispersed during the wars.4

However, neither Nanshi nor Chenshu mentions Xu Ling’s connection with the Yutai xinyong despite the fact that Yao Cha , the chief compiler of the Chenshu, was Xu Ling’s colleague and friend. The earliest major historical record that attribute the compilation of the

Yutai xinyong to Xu Ling is the bibliography of the Suishu (comp.656). In his influential

Yutai xinyong yanjiu , the contemporary scholar Liu Yuejin agrees with the attribution of the compilership to Xu Ling and his reasons for this are: the Nanshi, the Chenshu,

3 Yao Silian , Chenshu , 26.325-334. Scripta Sinica.

4 Nanshi 62.1525; Yao Silian, Chenshu, 26.334, 335. Scripta Sinica. !4 and the Suishu were all compiled at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty; although the Suishu is the earliest major historical record that mentions Xu Ling’s compilation of the Yutai xinyong, it does not necessarily mean that the record in the Suishu is a less credential one that made up by later generations; meanwhile, the Yiwen leiju , a literature anthology compiled in the early

Tang, also says that the Yutai xinyong was compiled by Xu Ling; and the editor of the Yiwen leiju,

Ouyang Xun , was almost 20 when Xu Ling passed away - which made it possible for him to get some contemporary information on Xu Ling’s literary production; the reason for the Yutai xinyong not be mentioned in the Nanshi and the Chenshu might be that the Yutai xinyong was an anthology circulating in a small circle at the time.5 Until recently, Liu Yuejin’s confirmation of

Xu Ling’s compilership of the Yutai xinyong has been accepted by the mainstream Chinese scholarship on the anthology.

Chinese and Western Scholarship on Yutai xinyong

As the Yutai xinyong includes a large number of palace-style poems, most contemporary

Chinese scholars still consider it a collection that reflects the sensual and decadent cultural life of the male literati in the Southern Dynasties. And such view on the Yutai xinyong mainly originates from a record in the Datang xinyu : “when Emperor Jianwen of Liang was heir apparent, he liked composing love poetry; literati throughout the realm converted to this type of composition and it gradually became a popular genre, known as ‘palace-style poetry’; in his later years, Emperor Jianwen changed his style of writing but it was already too late [to turn around his reputation as a palace-style poet]; thus, he ordered Xu Ling to compile Yutai xinyong to grant

5 Liu Yuejin , Yutai xinyong yanjiu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2000), 90. !5 the genre a degree of respectability. , , , ,

. , , , .”6 This piece of record in the Datang xinyu is almost the only extant early source about the purpose of the Yutai xinyong’s compilation other than the preface of the Yutai xinyong itself, and this is also why most Chinese scholars take it as an essential evidence for defining the nature of the Yutai xinyong and the poems included in the anthology. However, recent studies point out that the original Datang xinyu was probably already lost in circulation a long time ago, and the work called the Datang xinyu that is circulating nowadays is actually a work written and compiled by Ming literati,7 which has already put the credibility of the historical records in the Datang xinyu in doubt. Moreover, this record of

Emperor Jianwen and the Yutai xinyong’s compilation is included in the chapter of

“Righteousness and Integrity” (Gongzhi ) in Datang xinyu and it is placed side by side with the anecdote of Emperor Taizong of Tang being exhorted to not compose love poetry.8 In other words, Emperor Jianwen is used as an example of contrast to show the extraordinary morality of

Emperor Taizong, which makes the association of the Yutai xinyong with Emperor Jianwen in the

Datang xinyu a further dubious assumption.

Meanwhile, major Western scholarship on the Yutai xinyong is also within the framework of examining the cultural and literary taste of male literati —- but from different aspects other

6 Liu Su , Datang xinyu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1985), 3.28.

7 Wu Guanwen , “Guanyu jinben Datang xinyu zhenwei wenti” ⾼機 and “Zaitan jinben Datang xinyu zhenwei wenti” ⾼機 , in Yutai xinyong xinlun , ed. Zhang Peiheng and Chen Guanghong (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chuban she, 2012),121-55.

8 Liu Su, Datang xinyu, 3.28. !6 than sensuality and decadence. According to Anne Birrell, the purpose of compiling the Yutai xinyong is a resistance to imposing Confucian didactic values on literature work while the compiler and the targeted readers of the anthology hold the idea of pursing art for art’s sake. As the subject of such artistic depiction, women in the anthology, especially those ones in the poems composed from late third century to sixth century, are tended to be given “a courtly treatment,” focused on their graceful and elegant manners and precious jewelry. Moreover, those women also suffer the so-called “obligatory melancholy” in the style of courtly love and their lavish clothes and accessories are implicit presentation of eroticism.9

On the other hand, Paul Rouzer proposes that there is a long tradition of male literati lamenting through a female voice in Chinese literature and the poems in the Yutai xinyong are just confirmation and variations of such “canonized lament.” In the particular case of the Yutai xinyong, those poems of lament in a female voice also involve voyeurism and competition. The female protagonist in the poem, possibly together with the intimacy between her male lover and her, arouses the erotic voyeurism. Meanwhile, there is also an implicit competition between the poet himself and the female protagonist as well as between the poet and his colleagues for substituting the female protagonist within the poem, as the relationship between the female protagonist and her lover also resembles the relationship between the ruler and his ministers. As a result, women in the poems are both the object of desire for the poets and the one that the poets desire to be. And it is poetry that articulates these complex feelings and intentions of the poets.10

9 Anne, Birrell, New Songs from a Jade Terrace: An Anthology of Early Chinese Love Poetry, Rev.ed. (England: Penguin, 1986), 1-28.

10 Paul Rouzer, Articulated Ladies: Gender and the Male Community in Early Chinese Texts (Cambridge, MA. : Harvard University Press, 2001), 117-56. !7

Meanwhile, David Knechtges also points out that the Yutai xinyong “represents the avant garde of Liang dynasty taste” which is different from Pei Ziye 開 and Xiao Tong’s tastes, two popular contemporary literature styles. While Pei Ziye advocated the conservative Confucian literature ideas and intended to restore the ancient way, Xiao Tong, the compiler of Wenxuan

, took a moderate attitude towards literature and suggested that literature should combine aesthetic pleasure and classical cultural values. But the Yutai xinyong and its anthologized palace- style poetry associated with Xiao Gang’s literary group seemed to propose that literature, especially poetry, “need[s] not always be sober and serious and that it can be used to provide pleasure and entertainment during idle moments.”11

However, in the Beacon Fire and Shooting Star, Tian Xiaofei comments on Birrell and

Rouzer’s take on the Yutai xinyong and she points out: the courtly love nature of palace-style poetry proposed by Birrell is just European romanticization of literary and cultural life in the

Southern Dynasties; as for Rouzer’s male taking a female lament voice, it seems to fit the literary tradition in the pre-Southern Dynasties period; but its applicability will be in doubt when another important factor is put into consideration - some of those poets in the Yutai xinyong are powerful rulers or princes like Emperor Wu of Liang and his son, Xiao Tong who have no need to make the so-called female lament to express their desire of gaining the favor of the ruler. In the meantime, Tian Xiaofei also suggests that the so-called three different literary schools or groups in the Liang period might be an arbitrary “imagined rivalry.” In fact, there was a shared vision of

11 David R. Knechtges, “Culling the Weeds and Selecting Prime Blossoms: the Anthology in Early Medieval China,” in Culture and Power in the Reconstruction of the Chinese Realm, 200-600, ed. Scott Pearce, Audrey Spiro, and Patricia Ebrey (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Center, 2001), 200-241. !8 what constituted of fine literature in the Liang literary world and a number of the Liang literati actually participated in different literary groups at the same time. And Tian Xiaofei further proposes the question: why can’t scholars consider the Yutai xinyong as an anthology compiling for palace ladies, especially when Xu Ling himself already clearly states such purpose in the preface of the anthology and Six Dynasties is also the time period that saw the compilation of a number of works of “instructions to women.”12 Nevertheless, Tian Xiaofei just makes a brief comment on scholarships on the Yutai xinyong in her book and does not further examine those noticeable issues that she raises.

Zhang Peiheng , a leading scholar of Six Dynasties literature in mainland China, seeks to look at the compilation of the Yutai xinyong from an alternative perspective. The preface clearly indicates that the anthology was commissioned by palace ladies and compiled for those ladies to read. Zhang Peiheng points out that it was always a rigid taboo for court officials to be in association with palace ladies in ancient China, which would usually lead to death penalty.

Thus, according to Zhang, it would have been almost impossible for Xu Ling, an official serving at the court, to attribute the compilation of the anthology to the request of a palace lady if there was no actual commission from the inner palace. Zhang Peiheng suggests that Zhang Lihua

, the most favored concubine of the last ruler of Chen, was the real compiler of the Yutai xinyong by analyzing the preface of the anthology and the family backgrond and life events of

Zhang Lihua. At the same time, evidence like Xu Ling sometimes is called by his literary title

Xiaomu in the Yutai xinyong also indicates that Xu Ling probably was not the compiler of

12 Tian Xiaofei, Beacon Fire and Shooting Star: The Literary Cultural of the Liang (502-557) (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007), 125-44, 186-92. !9 the anthology or at least not the only one.13 In another article supplementing his argument on

Zhang Lihua’s compilation of the Yutai xinyong, Zhang Peiheng presents some new findings of the historical records on the compiler of the Yutai xinyong: although the Suishu is the earliest major historical record that mentions Xu Ling’s compilership of the Yutai xinyong in accordance to the finish time of the main body of the Suishu, jingji zhi , the particular section that talks about the Yutai xinyong was actually finished in the middle and late Tang Dynasty; as the

Yiwen leiju was compiled in the early Tang (624), it is hard to say that the editors of the jingji zhi did not attribute the Yutai xinyong to Xu Ling according to the information from the Yiwen leiju; furthermore, a record in the Xianglian ji 動 from the late Tang period might suggest that Xu

Ling might not be the compiler of the Yutai xinyong.14

A number of Zhang Peiheng’s articles on the compilership of the Yutai xinyong indeed shed light on the research of the anthology by examining it from the perspective of female editorship, despite the fact that Zhang Peiheng insists that it was a particular palace lady, Zhang

Lihua, who compiled the anthology - which seems to lack solid foundation.

Approaches and Overview of Chapters

While my research on the Yutai xinyong will continue to explore the anthology on the track of female involvement, the focus will be placed on the dynamic interaction among the possible female readership, the male poet’s construction of those anthologized poems on women

13 Zhang Peiheng , “Yutai xinyong wei Zhang Lihua suo zhuanlu kao” 是 , Wenxue pinglun, no.2 (2004).

14 Wu Guanwen , and Zhang Peiheng , “Yutai xinyong zhuanren taolun de jige yiliu wenti” 是, Fudan xuebao, no.3 (2011). !10 and the reception of the contemporary Southern Dynasties female readers. As facing very limited extant sources on the compilation and female readership of the Yutai xinyong, this study attempts to combine the fragmental cultural and historical evidence with the analysis of the primary literary texts, the preface of the Yutai xinyong and its anthologized poems, to complement one another so as to piece back together the flow path of the Yutai xinyong’s compilation, composition, and readership in its contemporary Southern Dynasties.

This thesis is divided into three chapters. Chapter One firstly presents the social ethos of women in the Six Dynasties by examining the images of women within major Six Dynasties historical and cultural accounts and discusses the issues regarding palace education in the

Southern Dynasties through extant sources and researches. While it was the ethos of the time in general for women to have various talents in the Six Dynasties, increasingly more women being included in the early Southern Dynasties historical works are the ones with wisdom and intelligence and the attention gradually shifts to women, especially aristocratic and palace women, with literary competence since the middle of the Southern Dynasties. As the Southern

Dynasties rulers attached more importance to the education of palace ladies, a large number of imperial ladies with exquisite literary skills were recorded in the dynastic histories of the

Southern Dynasties and it it was also a common practice of the time for scholar officials to compile works for women to read with the content of stories and poems on women. Under such social and cultural environment, the Yutai xinyong, a poetry collection on women, was compiled.

Therefore, this chapter then carefully analyzes the preface of the Yutai xinyong, where the compiler also clearly states that the anthology is compiled for palace ladies to read, as well as the !11 taboo between court official and palace ladies, which makes the compiler’s claim in the preface less likely a metaphorical fabrication.

Chapter Two, “‘His Composition’: Poems on Female Entertainers by Male Poets,” discusses the purpose of the Southern Dynasties male poets’ compositions on women in the Yutai xinyong by looking at the anthologized poems on female entertainers — a popularly adopted theme in the Yutai xinyong, the similarity and connection between the female entertainers and the male literati at the court in the Southern Dynasties, and the power and the role of literary competence at that time. Although the Yutai xinyong was probably composed as a poetry collection for the education of palace ladies, the poems included in the anthology were not written for such purpose. Most of those poems on female entertainers were composed at the royal banquet. During the banquet, the patron and literati guests usually watched the female entertainers’ performance at first and then composed poems on the performance that they just watched. To some extent, the role of these male literati guests at the Southern Dynasties’ royal banquet is similar to that of the female music entertainers —- they are both the ones entertaining the patron. Thus, a male poet does not seek a realistic depiction of the female entertainer in his poem but rather constructs a synthesized female protagonist that consists of both the image of the female entertainer and the poet himself so as to convey his own personal, social, and political expressions. And his poetic composition on the female entertainer’s performance actually presents another performance at the banquet. By elaborately reconstructing and depicting the female protagonist in his poetic performance to express his inner thoughts, the poet also demonstrates his literary competence which is an essential tool of communicating and excelling in the Southern Dynasties court. !12

Indeed, this chapter is based on and relates to Paul Rouzer’s research in Articulated

Ladies. But although some of the Yutai xinyong poems on women that Rouzer discusses might be compositions on female entertainers, he is mostly focused on the canonized female lament as well as the erotic voyeurism and neglects the possible performative aspect within those poems. Also,

Rouzer’s discussion on the male poets’ homosocial relation that is constructed and conveyed by the female voice in the Yutai xinyong poems is just the literati desiring the patron’s favor or the competition between literati colleagues. But as Tian Xiamfei points out, there are also a large number of poems on women that are written by royal patrons in the Southern Dynasties and these patrons have no need to use the female lament to gain anyone's favor. And this aspect of the purpose of the royal patrons’ composition on poems on women will be discussed in this chapter.

Chapter Three attempts to investigate the potential contemporary female readers’ reception of these poems on female entertainers anthologized in the Yutai xinyong, since the potential female readers, the Liang and Chen palace ladies, probably understood and received these poems differently from the male poets who compose them. But unfortunately, there were very limited extant sources on the literary activities of the palace ladies at that time and almost no writing by the Liang and Chen palace ladies has survived, which makes it impossible to trace the contemporary female readers’ reception of these anthologized poems directly. Thus, this chapter turns attention to look at the anthologized poems on female entertainers or women written by

Shen Manyuan and Liu Lingxian who were female relatives of two major Yutai xinyong male poets. As it is very likely that these two Southern Dynasties female poets have read the poems composed by their male family members, a comparison between their poems and their male !13 relatives’ works included in the Yutai xinyong also can indirectly reflect how the potential female readers in the Southern Dynasties may receive these anthologized poems.

Although the Yutai xinyong is generally regarded as a poetry collection that presents the love and sexual desire of the male poets, the preface to the Yutai xinyong, the content of the anthologized poems, and the historical and cultural traditions of the Six Dynasties all suggest that this seemingly male-oriented anthology might be intended for female audience. However, the actual poems included in this anthology intended for female readers were composed by male poets for different purposes other than for female audience to read. When composing these poems on women or female entertainers, most male poets take the female voice to express their own inner thoughts so as to serve various personal, political, and social purposes. Thus, in these poems on women by male literati, the poet creates a performative representation of the female protagonist which presented poets themselves to their readers --- patrons or literati colleagues. As these men’s writings on women are selected by the compiler of the Yutai xinyong and recirculated back to aristocratic women and palace ladies at the time, they then serves as the model for those women’s expression in writing. But while the poems written by the contemporary Southern

Dynasties female poets are similar or corresponding to that of their male counterparts in terms of the style, the themes, and the subject matters, the female poets also strengthen and touch on certain other aspects like the moral integrity, the inner psychological states of the female protagonist, and the desire for transgressing the pre-defined feminine role.

In such layers of emulation, the Southern Dynasties male poets compose poems on female entertainers after watching their music performance; and the female reader-poets read as well as is influenced by these compositions on women and then write their own poems on women by !14 adopting the similar style and themes. Each layer of the emulation actually is also a poetic performance based on the previous layer.

!15

Chapter Two

The Preface of Yutai xinyong And the Social and Cultural Context

The Six Dynasties was an era that esteemed aristocratic women with various talents.

Although conventional female virtues like chastity and modesty were still valued, it was those women with unusual talents and abilities that had their biographies and stories left in historical accounts of that period. Indeed, this might be a result of the limitation of extant sources when those accounts were composed as well as the personal preference of the compilers.15 But it should also be kept in mind that most compilers of those historical works of the Six Dynasties were the ones who lived through that period, although the works themselves were compiled in the following dynasties. To some extent, those compilers’s value and selection of materials also reflects the ethos of women in that period. Therefore, the first half of the chapter will be devoted to reviewing and analyzing the images of women within major Six Dynasties historical and cultural accounts like the section of “Worthy Ladies (Xianyuan )” in A New Account of the

Tales of the World (Shishuo xinyu ), the section of “Biography of Exemplary Ladies

(Lienü zhuan ) in the Jinshu , and biographies and pieces of information of women in the Songshu , the Liangshu , and the Chenshu . The second half of the chapter will turn to look at the preface of the Yutai xinyong with an emphasis on the epitomes of palace ladies as well as their daily activities depicted in the preface, and these aspects of the preface will also be examined together with the extant sources and researches on palace education in the Southern

15 Wang Anyu ,“Tang xiu zhengshi lienüzhuan zhong de yilei - qianxi Jinshu lienüzhuan dui you shijian de caizhi nvxing de baoyang” ⾼機每 ·, Dalian daxue xuebao 35, no.2 (2014), 45-6. !16

Dynasties. From a broader historical and social background to relatively specific portrayal in the preface, this chapter intends to trace and picture the potential female readers of the Yutai xinyong.

The Image and Ethos of Women in the Six Dynasties

The Shishuo xinyu is an anecdote collection compiled by Liu Yiqing

(403-444), a kinsman of the Liu Song imperial family, and the collection contains anecdotes and character sketches that present the cultural attitudes and social practices from the Han through the

Wei and Jin periods. The chapter of the “Xianyuan” in the Shishuo xinyu records women with various different characteristics: extraordinary physical beauty, outstanding personal talents, exceptional moral qualities, keen political sensibilities, and so forth. The following are a few exemplary excerpts:

信信信信信信信

Wang Hun’s wife, Chung Yen, was the great-granddaughter of the grand tutor, Chung Yu, and in her own right possessed outstanding ability and womanly virtue. Lady Chung and Lady Hao, as the wives respectively of the elder and younger Wang brothers, Wang Hun and Wang Chan, always treated each with affectionate respect. Lady Chung did not, because of her noble origin, act condescendingly toward Lady Hao, nor did Lady Hao, because of her lowly origin, act obsequiously toward Lady Chung. Within the household of Wang Chan’s son, Wang Ch’eng, they followed the rules of Lady Hao, and within the household of Wang Hun they took as their model the etiquette of Lady Chung.

信信信分信⼼信信信信信信

Since the palace women of the Han Emperor Yüan (Liu Shih) were numerous, he ordered an artist to make portraits of them, so that whenever he wanted to call one, he could always summon her according to her portrait. The ordinary ones among them all bribed the artist, but Wang Ch’iang, whose face and figure were very beautiful, was resolved not to seek favors by unfair means, and as a result the artist disfigured her appearance in her portrait. Later the Hsiung-nu came on a peace mission, seeking a lovely lady from the !17

Han emperor. The emperor felt that Wang Ch’iang would fulfill the qualifications to go, but after having summoned her for an interview, was loathe to let her go. However, her name had already been sent on, and he did not wish to change in mid-course, so in the end she went.

信信信來中信來信信信來信信信信信為

When Hsü Yün was punished by Prince Ching (Ssu-ma Shih), his servants went in to tell his wife (Lady Juan), who was just then at her weaving. Her spirit and facial expression showed no change. She only said, “I knew it was so, long ago.” The servants wanted to hide Yün’s sons (Ch’i and Meng), but his wife said, “It doesn’t concern the sons.” Later she moved to the neighbourhood of Yün’s tomb. Prince Ching dispatched Chung Hui to visit the boys. If the level of their ability came up to that of their father, he was to apprehend them. The sons consulted with their mother about it, and she said, “Even though you two are fine boys, your ability and endowment are not excessive. If you speak out frankly with him whatever is in your hearts and thoughts, you’ll have nothing to worry about. It’s not necessary to show extreme grief, either; stop at whatever point Hui stops. Beyond that you might ask a few questions about affairs at court.” The sons followed her advice. After Hui returned he reported the circumstances (to Prince Chiang), and in the end they were spared.16

While the character “” is translated as worthy, it actually means being worthy by one’s virtue and capabilities. A virtuous official who is capable in dealing with state affairs or a scholar who carries enormous moral qualities is often called as “” or “.” When the character is used to describe women, it usually refers to women who are good at managing the affairs in the house and follow conventional female virtues. However, the definition of “” in the chapter of the “Xianyuan” seems to be different from the conventional one. Although the chapter of the

16 Liu Yiqing , Shishuo xinyu xiaojian 出, ed. Yang Yong (Taipei: Zhengwen shuju, 2000), 19.606, 607, 611, 618; Liu Yiqing , Shishuo xinyu jianshu , trans. Richard B. Mather (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2007) 19.501, 503, 507, 509, 515, 517. !18

“Xianyuan” includes stories like Madam Hao and Madam Zhong as sisters-in-law getting along with each other harmoniously so as to indicate the importance of traditional qualities of women, more than half of the anecdotes within this chapter are about women with a variety of other talents and qualities.

In the story of Wang Mingjun, she had not only extraordinary beauty but also exceptional virtue. And her virtue presented in the story goes beyond conventional female virtues such as chastity, modesty, gentleness, and obedience. Instead of giving up her integrity to bribe the court painter, Wang Mingjun would rather choose to lose the chance of attending emperor and ended up with being sent to the barbarian land of Xiongnu. This almost sounds like those stories of righteousness ministers sticking to their integrity and being banished to a remote land.

As for the wife of Xu Yun, she appeared in the anecdote as a calm and capable mother when facing family disaster —- Xu Yun being executed. In addition to her composure and wisdom in dealing with the crisis, she also demonstrated extraordinary political sensibility: she foresaw that there was no immediate danger to her sons right after Xu Yun’s execution; she moved the family to live near Xu Yun’s tomb, presumably somewhere in the suburb, so as to stay away from the center of politics; when King Jing sent Zhong Hui to visit them, she clearly detected the king’s intention and instructed her sons how to behave probably; and she even told the sons to what degree they should show their grief — showing moderate amount of grief that makes them act normal and nature but not excessive sorrow that will let the king suspect they may want to revenge for their father’s death one day. As a woman staying in the house, Xu Yun’s wife led the family to tide over a dangerous period by her accurate judgement of political trends at the time. !19

Just as the chapter of the “Xianyuan” in the Shishuo xinyu presents more than a dozen of admirable examples of women with exceptional talent, intelligence and moral strength, the same thing can be seen in the chapter of the “Lienü zhuan” in the Jinshu . And most Jin Dynasty women recorded in the “Xianyuan” also appears in the “Lienü zhuan.” Nevertheless, there are still subtle differences in terms of the selection and depiction of women between the “Xianyuan” and the “Lienü zhuan.” Compared with the “Xianyuan” in the Shishuo xinyu, the “Lienü zhuan”

—- other than recording women following conventional virtues—- focuses more on the intelligence of women, especially their literary talent.

In the first place, a number of intelligent and highly literate women in the Jin period that do not appear in the “Xianyuan” are included in the “Lienü zhuan” in the Jinshu. For instance, the sisters of Liu E and Liu Ying . Both sisters were imperial concubines of Liu Cong

. Liu E’s biography in “Lienü zhuan” depicts her as “信信信

信信信She had been bright and intelligent since childhood. She was doing women’s work during the day while reading books at night. Nanny always dissuaded her from doing so, but she studied even harder. Every time when she was discussing the argumentation of classics with her brothers, her thoughts and taste were outstanding and all the brothers admired her deeply.” As for Liu E’s elder sister, Liu

Ying, “she was also smart and had great learning. Her writing was acute and insightful while she knew state affairs really well, which exceeded Liu E 信信信

..”17 And the story of Lady Xuanwen Jun is also written in the “Lienü zhuan.”

17 Fang Xuanling , Jinshu , 96.2519, 2520. Scripta Sinica. !20

Xuanwen Jun’s father passed on their family learning, Rites of Zhou , to her. Despite the turbulent war time, she carried all the books her father passed on to her and kept reciting and studying them. Meanwhile, she also taught her son, Wei Cheng , classics every night while working for a living during the day. Wei Cheng later became a chancellor of Former Qin, and

Xuanwen Jun was appointed to give instructions on Rites of Zhou for more than a hundred scholar-officials in the court.18

For those women whose biographies appear in both the “Xianyuan” and the “Lienü zhuan,” their biographies in the “Lienü zhuan” often add supplementary parts that aim at presenting the intelligence and literary competence of the female protagonists. A typical example of this is the difference of the biographies of Xie Daoyun in these two books.

The “Xianyuan” in the Shishuo xinyu only includes a brief anecdote of Xie Daoyun:

信信來“ 信信信⽼” 來“信信信”

After Madam Xie, the wife of Wang Ningzhi, married to the Wang family, she scorned Ningzhi a lot. When she went back to the Xie family, she was very displeased. The Grand Mentor (Xie An) comforted her by saying: “The Young Gentleman Wang is the son of Yishao, and his virtue and learning are not bad either. Why don’t you like him?” Xie Daoyun replied: “Among the uncles of our family, there are [outstanding people like] big

18 Jinshu , 96. 2521, 2522. !21

uncle and middle uncle.19 Among my brothers, there are Feng, Hu, Jie, and Mo.20 I never expected, between heaven and earth, there is person like that Young Gentleman Wang!” 21

But within the “Lienü zhuan” in the Jinshu, the biography of Xie Daoyun starts with a story showing her literary talent before narrating the anecdote of her contempt for her husband, Wang

Ningzhi:

信信: “ ⽼” : “⼤上信⼤信” 信信來: “⽼” 來: “” 來: “”

The wife of Wang Ningzhi was Madam Xie. Her literary name was Daoyun, and she was the daughter of Xie Yi, the General of Pacifying the West. She was brilliant and quick- witted. Her uncle Xie An once asked her: “Which line of Mao Poetry is the best?” Daoyun answered: “When Yin Jifu composes an ode, it is as tranquil as gentle breeze. And Zhongshan Fu writes ‘poems expressing the thoughts’ so as to console his own heart.” Xie An called her as an elegant person with profound taste. Once in a family gathering-together, the snow suddenly fell. Xie An asked: “What does this lookslike?” The son of Xie An’s brother, Xie Lang said: “Scattering salts over the sky is rather similar.” Daoyun replies: “It is not as good as willow catkin being blowed by wind.” Xie An was very pleased.22

Meanwhile, the “Lienü zhuan” also includes the anecdote that Xie Daoyun gave advice to Wang

Ningzhi’s brother, Wang Xianzhi , behind the curtain when he could not defend himself in an argument with the guests. When heard her husband and sons had been killed by Sun En ,

Xie Daoyun acted calm and composed and saved the life of her grandson. Later Prefecture Chief,

19 Big Brother probably refers to Xie An’s cousin, Xie Shang . Middle brother refers to either Xie An’s younger brother Xie Wan or his elder brother Xie Ju .

20 Feng, Hu, Jie, Mo are nicknames for Xie Shao , Xie Lang , Xie Xuan , Xie Yuan respectively.

21 Shishuo xinyu xiaojian, 19. 626-7.

22 Jinshu , 96. 2516. !22

Liu Liu , visited her for her renowned reputation. Her behavior was described as lofty and graceful while her speech was elegant and refined.23 Within the “Xianyuan” in the Shishuo xinyu,

Xie Daoyun is just presented as an outrageous aristocratic lady who dared to show her dissatisfaction at her husband because her husband was not as excellent as her maternal male family members. But in the “Lienü zhuan,” Xie Daoyun was not just a woman coming from an outstanding family but also the one who possessed extraordinary wisdom and literary competence that even surpassed some of her accomplished male relatives.

While the Shishuo xinyu is an anthology compiled by or under the auspices of Liu Yiqing during the early to middle Song Dynasty and reflects the cultural ethos of Han to Jin period,

Jinshu was compiled in the early Tang and manifests the values of the middle and late Southern

Dynasties. The edition of the Jinshu that is recognized as the official dynastic history of the Jin

Dynasty nowadays was compiled and edited by Fang Xuanling and other contemporary scholars. According to Ran Zhaode’s article on the compilations of Jin dynastic history and recompilation of the Jinshu in the Tang Dynasty, there were already dozens of extant compilations of Jin dynastic history at the time that Emperor Taizong of Tang commissioned

Fang Xuanling to recompile the Jinshu. Fang Xuanling and his team eventually chose Zang

Rongxu’s 微 edition as the basis version for this recompilation project, and Zang Rongru was a Southern Dynasties scholar who lived through the Song and Qi.24 Moreover, one of major groups of scholars that participated the recompilation of the Jinshu leading by Fang Xuanling

23 Ibid., 96. 2516, 2517.

24 Ran Zhaode , “Guanyu Jinshi de zhuanshu yu tang xiu jinshu zhuanren wenti” , Xibei daxue xuebao , no.4 (1957), 71-5. !23 were from the former Southern Dynasties aristocratic families such as Chu Suiliang 地 and

Xu Jingzong .25 As a result, much of the cultural and social ideology of the Southern

Dynasties are unavoidably imbedded in the Jinshu, especially within the biographies of historical figures.26 Therefore, the Jinshu’s tendency of including more intelligent women and depicting women’s intelligence and literary competence in more detail can also be seen as a social and cultural atmosphere in the Southern Dynasties that encouraged women to be literate and intelligent or at least idealized upper-class women with these qualities.

Such encouraging social and cultural atmosphere for literate and educated women can also be seen in the dynastic histories of the Southern Dynasties. Although the official dynastic histories of the Southern Dynasties do not contain a chapter specially dedicated to the biographies of women like the “Lienü zhuan” in the Jinshu, the ethos of women in the Southern Dynasties can still be perceived through the mentions of relevant women within the biographies of male historical figures as well as the biographies of imperial consorts and concubines.

25 Li Peidong , “Jinshu yanjiu” ⾼機(), Shanghai shifan xueyuan xuebao , no.2 (1984), 69.

26 Wu Zhuzhu 被被, “Jinshu de bianshu shijian, zuozhe ji yuqi youguan de jige wenti” ⾼機信, Fujian xuekan , no.3 (1992), 61. !24

In addition to highly literate and intelligent women appearing in male historical figures’ biographies now and then,27 what is noticeable in the dynastic histories of the Southern Dynasties is a group of imperial ladies with exquisite literary skills. Some of them could even match with their male counterparts, especially imperial ladies in the Liang and Chen Dynasties.28 According to the Liangshu, “Empress Xi ⼒, the consort of Emperor Wu, was bright and intelligent since childhood; she was good at clerical script and read history books 信信

.” Another consort of Emperor Wu, Imperial Concubine Ding who gave birth to

Xiao Tong and Xiao Gang , was said to master numerous Buddhist sutras and was especially adept at Vimalakirti Sutra, and she was also the wirepuller of almost all those compilations of sutras commissioned by Emperor Wu.29 In the Chenshu, it is recorded that Empress Zhang

, the consort of the founding emperor of Chen, “was skillful at literature and mathematics and she could recite The Book of Songs and Lyrics of Chu 信.” Empress

27 E.g., in the Nanqi shu, Wang Rong’s mother was said to be “a sincere and smart woman who taught Wang Rong classics. 給. .” Within the eulogy for the mother of Wang Sengbian , Madam Wei, in the Liangshu, it describes Madam Wei as “reading and viewing books and paintings while studying and discussing poetry and prose , .” The biography of Xie Zhen in the Chenshu records that his mother, Madam Wang, taught him The Analects and Classic of Filial Piety . Xiao Zixian , Nanqi shu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2008), 47.817; Yao Silian , Liangshu (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2008), 45.631; Yao Silian , Chenshu , 32.426, Scripts Sinica.

28 Despite the fact that the biographies of imperial consorts and concubines are usually filled with generalized formula of eulogizing or moral criticism, the distinctive characteristic of the Southern Dynasties imperial ladies is still noticeable within these seemingly generalized biographies.

29 Liangshu , 7.157, 161. !25

Shen was depicted as “clever and insightful and gifted with extraordinary memories. She not only widely read classics and histories but also excelled at writing 知信信

;” after the death of the last emperor of Chen, she herself wrote an eulogy for him. And the last emperor of Chen also appointed those palace ladies with literary competence as “Lady

Secretary .” Every time when there was a banquet, Lady Secretaries were invited to compose poems together with literati guests.30

The Shishuo xinyu, the Jinshu, and the official dynastic histories of the Southern

Dynasties respectively are an anecdote collection on people in Han, Wei, Jin Dynasty written by an early Southern Dynasties literati, the history of Jin Dynasty compiled by a literati in the early and mid Southern Dynasties and reedited by late Southern Dynasties scholar officials, and the dynastic histories of the Southern Dynasties mainly edited by the late Southern Dynasties literati.

In accordance with the anecdotes and historical records on women in these works, a broad picture of aristocratic women in the Six Dynasties as well as the transition of the ethos of women in this period can both been seen. While it was the ethos of the time in general for women to have various talents in the Six Dynasties, the women who drew the attention of the historians and literati in the early and mid Southern Dynasties were those ones distinguished themselves by their extraordinary wisdom and intelligence. Since the middle of the Southern Dynasties, there were increasingly more aristocratic women and palace ladies with particular competence in literary skills that were recorded in historical works. Thus, the ethos of women in the Six Dynasties saw

30 Chenshu , 7.126, 130, 132. !26 the transition of women being praised by various different talents and virtues to highly literary women gradually being valued the most.

The Education of Palace Ladies and furen ji Works

The reasons for having such a group of palace ladies with exquisite literary skills in the

Southern Dynasties are not just the influence and continuation of the tradition of educated aristocratic women in the Six Dynasties in general. It may also result from the Southern

Dynasties rulers’ attaching more importance to the education of palace ladies. Within the biography of Empress Pei 開 in the Nanqi shu, a story of Han Lanying is attached:

⽇信信信信⽣信信信

Han Lanying from Prefecture of Wu was a lady excelling in writing. During the reign of Xiaowu Emperor of Song, she presented Rhapsody on Restoration and was rewarded by entering the palace. During the reign of Emperor Ming of Song, she was appointed as an official in the palace. The Founding Emperor of Qi conferred Han Lanying the title of Erudite and asked her to teach palace women writing and learning. As she was advanced in age and extremely knowledgeable, people called her Lord Han.31

Also, Zhang Shuai’s biography mentions that “[Emperor Wu of Liang] ordered Zhang

Shuai to copy histories and compile twenty-some stories on women, which were a hundred volumes in total. And he had them transcribed by skilled calligraphers like Wang Shen from

Langye and Fan Huaiyue and Chu Xun from Wu Prefecture in order to distribute them to palace ladies 信信信

地⼥信.”32

31 Nanqi shu , 20.392.

32 Liangshu , 33.475. !27

Zhang Shuai’s compilation for the education of palace ladies was not a single case of the

Southern Dynasties literati officials’ compiling literature collections for women. In fact, historical records indicates that at least a number of furen ji (“Collection on Women”) like this were produced in that period. Xu Mian , a high ranking official and renowned literatus in the court of Emperor Wu of Liang, also compiled a furen ji in ten volumes.33 And according to

“Bibliographical Treatise” (Jingji zhi ) in the Suishu , during the Southern Dynasties, there were Furen ji in thirty volumes compiled by Yin Chun 多, other three Furen ji by anonymous authors in twenty, eleven, and two volumes respectively, and Zawen

(“Mischievous Writing”) in sixteen volumes which is specially notified that it was written for women.34 These furen ji works are listed all together within “Jingji zhi ,” but only Zawen in sixteen volumes has an annotation stating it was written for women. And the reason of this is: it probably was already a common sense at the time that a work with a title like furen ji was supposed to be written for women, so it is unnecessary to further state whom these furen ji works were written for; while Zawen in sixteen volumes does not have a typical furen ji title, the editor then added an annotation to indicate its potential readers.35

Although none of these works listed above has survived till nowadays, their content can still be perceived by the excerpts embedded in other works as well as a few subtle clues left in historical records. As the above mentioned quotation in Zhang Shuai’s biography in the Liangshu,

33 Ibid., 25.387.

34 Wei Zheng , Suishu , 35. 1082. Scripta Sinica.

35 Xu Yunhe , “Nanchao gongjiao yu Yutai xinyong” , Wenxian , no.3 (1997), 20. !28 the work compiled for palace ladies to read, which Emperor Wu commissioned him to compile, consists of histories and stories on women. Also, within Liu Xiaobiao’s annotation of

“Worthy Ladies” in the Shishuo xinyu, his quotations of stories on women often start with “furen ji says 來” or “furen ji records .”36 Meanwhile, the furen ji work compiled by

Yin Chun is recorded as the name of Furen ji in “Bibliographical Treatise” in the Suishu but the name of the work is changed to Furen shiji in Comprehensive Treatises

(Tongzhi ) and is categorized under the section of “Poetry Collective Works” (Shi zongji

); and another Furen shiji compiled by Yan Jun , a literati official in the Liu Song

Dynasty, is also listed side by side with Yin Chun’s work in the same section in the Tongzhi.37

Both the record of these two Furen shiji and the name change of Yin Chun’s furen ji work indicate that poetry or, to be exact, poetry on women is the content of the Southern Dynasties furen ji works as well.

The Preface of Yutai xinyong and the Intention of Compilation

As it was not a rare practice for the Southern Dynasties literati to compile furen ji works with the content of poetry and stories on women for female readers, the preface of Xu Ling’s

Yutai xinyong, from many aspects, also manifests that the Yutai xinyong probably was also compiled as a furen ji work for palace ladies to read.

36 Ibid., 21.

37 Zheng Qiao ⼩, Tongzhi (Hangzhou: Zhejiang guji chuban she, 2000), 70.825.

38 Xu Ling , Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出, edited by Wu Zhaoyi and Cheng Yan (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2007), 11-13. !29

“The Preface of the Yutai xinyong”

, ; , 可, , 會, 在, , 起 ; , 情, , , , , , ; , , ; , , ; , , ; 什 , , ⼦

[The palaces] reach the clouds, those which You Yu has never even glimpsed;39 thousands upon thousands of doors that Zhang Heng has written about in his rhapsody.40 On the rampart terraces the Zhou kings and in the golden chamber of the Han emperor,41 the branches of the jade trees are made with corals; the beaded curtains are made of turtle shells; Inside there are fair ladies. These ladies are from the powerful families of “Five Cemeteries” that have been selected into the imperial harem,42 the ones coming from the prominent families of “Four Surnames” and who are well-known in the wing lane [of the palace].43 Also, there are the ones from Yingchuan, Xinshi, Hejian, and Guanjin,44 and the

39 You Yu once visited the Qin state as the envoy of the king of “Western Barbarian” . In order to persuade You Yu to stay and serve for the Qin, Duke Mu of Qin took him to see magnificent palaces to show him the power of the Qin.

40 In Zhang Heng’s “Xijing fu” , he uses the phrase “” to describe the magnificence of the palaces in Chang’an.

41 During the Zhou dynasties, both the Zhou kings and the regional rulers were fond of the high terraces. Many high terraces were commissioned by the kings and dukes at that time, and the kings and dukes often competed with each other for the height of the terrace which is also a symbol of power. The golden chamber of the Han emperor refers to the story that Emperor Wu of Han promised to build a golden house for Empress Chen if he could marry her.

42 “Five Cemeteries” refer to the cemeteries of Emperor Gao, Emperor Hui, Emperor Jing, Emperor Wu, and Emperor Zhao of the Han Dynasty. Every time the cemetery of a deceased Han emperor was built, the imperial relatives and wealthy families were ordered to move to the area (the practice was discontinued since the reign of Emperor Yuan of the Han). Thus, “Five Cemeteries” later became a designation for powerful and wealthy families. 43 Since the Han Dynasty, people often liked to group the most powerful four families at the time as “Four Surnames,” The so-called “Four Surnames” in every generation was all different, and it later also became a general reference to the renowned families.

44 Yingchuan, Xinshi, Hejian, and Guanjin were all famous for their beautiful women in the Han Dynasty, and many Han empresses and consorts were from these places. !30

ones whom used to be called “Delicate Maid” and the ones whom was once named “Radiant Smile.” In the palace of the kings of the Chu, no one does not praise their slender waists; the beautiful women in the Kingdom of Wei are all surprised by their fair and delicate hands.45 They read poetry and follow the rites. How could the maid of the neighbor to the east, who proposed herself for love match, be compared with them?46 They are [naturally] lovely and graceful, charming and amorous — different from Xishi who had been taught etiquette and manners.47 Either they have brothers, who [are able to] harmonize the tones of music, and, since childhood, learned to sing; or they grew up at [a place like] the house of Princess Heyang and are always skillful at dancing.48 [They play] new songs on the pipa and do not have to wait for [the praise from] Shi Chong.49 [They perform] various melodies on the konghou and [these melodies] have nothing to do with Cao Zhi.50 They have inherited the skill of playing the zither from the Yang family and have learnt to play flute from the Qin girl.51

, ; , , 不 ; , 全, ; 想, ⾃, 也道, , 为;

45 As the kings in the Chu state favored women with slender waists, ladies in the palace of the Chu all strived to achieve slender waists and some of them even ended with dying from hunger. The consort of the Duke Zhuang of the Wei, , was said to have extremely fair and delicate hands which is also depicted in ode entitled “Shuoren” in The Book of the Songs.

46 In Song Yu’s “Dengtu zi haose fu” , he depicts a beautiful woman, a neighbor to the east, who peeped at the persona over the wall for three years.

47 Before Xishi was sent to the state of Wu, the king of Yue had her trained in various musical skills and etiquettes. 48 Having brothers who are able to harmonize the tones refers to Lady Li whose brother is Li Yannian . Growing up at the house of Princess Heyang refers to Zhao Feiyan .

49 In his “Wang Zhaojun ci” , Shi Chong praises the pipa songs that were played by Princess Wusun (Liu Xijun ) when she was on her way to Wusun.

50 There were a number of yuefu lyrics called “Konghou yin” 什 at that time, and Cao Zhi’s “Konghou yin” was the most famous one in the Six Dynasties period.

51 Yang Yun 更 was an official in the Western Han Dynasty. His family was originally from the state of Qin and he can sing the Qin songs. His wife was from the state of Zhao and was good at playing zither. For the Qin girl, it refers to Nongyu , the daughter of the Duke Mu of Qin. Nongyu was so skillful at playing flute that the sound of her flute sounded like the singing of the phoenix. In the end, she flew away to the sky with the phoenix. !31

, , ; , , ⽤下, 美; , , ; , ,

If the favour [that these ladies receive] were heard at the Palace of Eternal Joy, Empress Chen would not be appeased by knowing it.52 [They are alike] the goddesses from a painting, so that Yanzhi would be jealous from afar if she were to see them.53 They could be as the maid of Dongling with her radiant smile or as [Lady Wei Zifu] who got to serve the emperor when she helped him change his clothes. They are as Xishi, slightly knitting her eyebrows,54 or like the beauties lying within the tent [of Emperor Wu of Han]. Accompanying [the emperor] to tour in the Palace of Sasuo, together they sway their slender waists to The Song of Tying the Wind; in the Palace of Eternal Joy and the Hall of Mandarine Duck, they sing and perform new tunes according to the score. They style their hair, thinly to their temples, like that of the crying cicada; drooping hair is rolled into buns, as if falling from a horse. Golden hairpins are placed from bottom to top while “jewellery tree” sprouts horizontally.55 The graphite from “Southern Capital” highlights their moth brows. The rouge from “Northern Land” blooms on the side of their cheeks. Also, there is the immortal boy giving [these ladies] elixir pills that were received by the emperor of the Wei.56 The phoenixes embroidered on their waistline are the ones passing

52 Palace of Eternal Joy was the palace for Empress Dowager in the Han Dynasty. As Empress Chen was raised by Empress Dowager Dou, she was growing up in Palace of Eternal Joy. 53 Yanzhi is the title for the consort of Xiongnu king. When Emperor Gao of Han once was besieged by Xiongnu troops, Chen Ping took a painting of a beautiful woman to see Yanzhi and told her that Emperor Gao decided to send this woman to Xiongnu king to seek truce. Yanzhi was afraid of losing Xiongnu king’s favor and, thus, persuaded the king to withdraw the troops. 54 As Xishi had heart disease, she often suffered from chest pains. And people found that she was even more attractive when she knitted her eyebrows because of pain.

55 “Jewellery tree” refers to a particular type of hair accessory called buyao . It has a larger base piece with many smaller tree branch-like pieces attached on it (Hou Hanshu , 110.3676).

56 In his “Zhe Yangliu xing” , Cao Pi writes that the personal is given a elixir pill by an immortal boy and then his body becomes light enough to fly as roaming immortals. !32

on music to Yellow Emperor.57 The slender of the golden stars [on their faces] compete with that of the star of Girl Mansion; the musky moon [on their faces] contends with Chang’e for brightness.58 Their dazzling sleeves are flying as if the startled luan-birds while the incense of Han Shou is wafting now and then;59 their long dresses are like flying swallows and the jade of Prince of Chen is perfect for tying to [their dresses].60 Although not [the lady] on the painting, no one would tell the difference if they were in the Palace of Sweet Spring;61 although not the goddess, there would be no difference if they were playing on the Terrace of Sunlit.62 It may be said that [their beauty] can ruin a city and overthrow a state,63 while they are unrivalled and unparalleled.

, , , 發, ; 兩, 事, ; , , ; , ,

Also, their nature is obliging, their thoughts are graceful and elegant. They expound proses exquisitely and are especially skillful at poetry and rhapsody. All day long they carry glaze ink-stone boxes with them; the emerald brush stands are never out of their hands. Pure and refined writings fill in the chest, which are not just of peony flower, but

57 In order to create musical system, Yellow Emperor ordered Ling Lun 成 to construct bamboo pipes that can capture the singing of the phoenix. 58 Golden stars and musky moon in this sentence refer to the star and moon shape face decoration; a number of Southern Dynasties poems on women mention this type of face decoration, which seems to be the makeup fashion of the time (Huang Wei, “Jinxing Sheyue zhi shenme,” 94-5).

59 Han Shou had an affair with Jia Wu , the daughter of Jia Chong , in secret, and Jia Wu gave Han Shou a special incense which was actually the emperor’s gift to Jia Chong. When Jia Chong discovered the affair, he married his daughter to Han Shou.

60 Princess of Chen refers to Cao Zhi. In his “Luoshen fu” , the persona presents his jade girdle to the goddess as the pledge of love.

61 After Mandam Li passed away, Emperor Wu of Han ordered her portrait to be painted and hung in the Palace of Sweet Spring (Hanshu , 97.3951).

62 In Song Yu’s , the goddess tells Chu king that she lives at the Terrace of Sunlit.

63 In Li Yannian’s “Geshi” , he depicts the female protagonist as “信 (One glance, a man’s city would be toppled. Another glance, his kingdom would fall.” !33

of new works which are produced one after another and are not limited to the grape tree.64 Climbing a high mountain on the the ninth day [of the ninth month], they always write compositions to express their emotions;65 [if it was at the time of] Princess Wannian, they would not fail to compose a work that is full of virtue.66 Their outstanding beauty is like that (of the above-mentioned) while their brilliant talent is like this.

⼀, 說, , 后, 三; 博, , , , ; , , 说; 個, , 以, 太

Soon [they found that] the palace [painted by the pigment of] paper seeds is twisty and meandering and the mansions built with arbor are deep and serene. [The palace gates are painted with] crimson cranes are shut tightly in the morning while the bronze bases [of the door handles] are silent during the day. Before the “Triple Stars” appear at night, the ladies cannot carry the quilt [to serve the emperor].67 Even a five-day [wait] is still too long, how could they [concentrate] to practice music. They live in a life of leisure but lack company; they have much free time but are lonely. They weary of the scattered ringing of the bell, which comes from the Palace of Eternal Joy; the arms of the clock in the Central Palace worry them as time moves slowly. As their slender waists are powerless, they fear to be like the girls of Nanyang whom beat and wash clothes; as they live in the deep palace, they laugh at the lady from Fufeng waving the brocade.68 Indeed, they are like the

64 In the poem “Zhen Wei” from Book of Songs, peony flower is used as a token of love. In the poem “Nanyuan feng meiren” 有 by He Sicheng (included in Yutai xinyong, the grapevine is used as a metaphor to depict the belt of the dress worn by the personal. 65 In ancient China, it was a custom to hike, drink, and compose poetry on the ninth day of the ninth month.

66 When Princess Wannian passed away, Zuo Fen composed a graceful eulogy for her under the commission of the emperor (Jinshu, 31.962).

67 According to “Choumo” 還 and “Xiaoxing” in Book of Songs respectively, the night that has “Triple Stars” on the sky is the time to meet with lover while the action of carrying the quilt refers to serving the ruler. 68 Beating clothes to wash is often used as an imagery of women longing for their lovers afar in classic poetry, and Xie Tiao 如 writes about a girl from Nanyang are beating clothes at night while longing for her lover in his “Qiuye” (included in Yutai xinyong); the lady from Fufeng refers to Lady Su who wrote palindrome poem to express her longing toward her husband, Dou Tao . !34

Jade Maiden playing pitch-pot and end the game by hitting the target hundreds of times;69 or they are like the ladies from the Qi state who all try to play the chess but exhaust their minds over the chessboard.70 None [of these activities] refresh their spirit during their free time, they prefer only new poems. Let me find the gaosu wood for them to slightly relieve them of their distress.71

, , , , , , , 上, 个, ,, , 學; 出, , ; , , ; ,

But all the famous works of the past and ingenious productions of these days are scattered in the Pavilion of Unicorn and the Gate of Hongdu.72 If these writings are not collected, there is no way [for the ladies of the palace] to read them. Thus, I light a candle to write at night. In the morning, I play (write) with the pen and compose; I compile and copy down these love songs, which are all together ten volumes. [Although these songs] do not match the Odes and Hymns or [their styles], they are still the popular styles that the poets [of Shijing often adopt]. The differences [with the poems in the past] and the scales of these poems are just like this. Thereupon, [this poetry collection] is made beautiful within a golden chest and bound with a jewelled shaft. The exquisite calligraphy [in the collection] is like the one from Cai Yong — the handwriting is expended as a dragon and swirled like a worm;73 the patterned papers are of five colors and are from Jiaodong area in Hebei. Rouge and powder in the high towers, thus, are used to revise the character lu or yu in the

69 The Jade Maidens are the companions of the goddesses on Kunlun 看, and the King Father of the East liked playing the game of pitch-pot with a Jade Maiden.

70 Linzi 麼, the capital of the Qi state, once was a wealthy and prosperous city. It was said that the residents of Linzi all had the leisure to play the flute, lute, zither, watch cockfights and dog races, and play chess and soccer.

71 Gaosu wood is said to contain sweet nectar. Whoever drinks it will not feel hungry anymore and all the worries of the person will be gone as well. 72 Both the Pavilion of Unicorn and the Gate of Hongdu are the locations of imperial libraries in the Han Dynasty.

73 originally refers to shangshu 信yushi 信yezhe . But it refers to Cai Yong 點 in this case. Cai Yong was a highly-recognized calligrapher at that time and once he was appointed for these three positions one after another within three days (Hou Hanshu, 60.2005). !35

writing;74 the fragrance of rue expels miasma and prevents the worms of Yuling. [This collection is as if] “The Flying Spirits of the Six Jia” occupying the jade book alone;75 [or, it is as if ] the immortal prescriptions of Honglie being stored inside the red pillow.76

, ; , 能時, 才 , ⾼機, ; , , ; , 個, 無⼿ , 在

Inside the curtain of the Cyan Ox, the last songs have ended;77 in front of the window of “Vermillion Birds,” new makeup has already been applied [to the ladies].78 It is time for [the palace ladies] to open these azure volumes and unlace their silk ribbons. They enjoy this book for a long time and the book is always circulated among their slender hands. It is nothing similar to Empress Deng studying The Spring and Autumn Annals, even though the learning of Confucius is hard to command. Or Empress Dou focused on the Yellow Emperor and Laozi and failed at the art of making the golden elixirs. And this collection surpasses [the deeds of] the powerful family of Western Shu which projected all the sentiment into the Hall of Lu;79 The Prime Tower of the heir apparent only kept [the

74 As the character lu and yu looks similar, they are often mistaken. So means proofreading and revising.

75 According to Han wudi neizhuan , Lady Shangyuan taught Emperor Wu “The Method the Flying Spirits of the Six Jia” and the method was written on a jade book with eight colors.

76 The immortal prescriptions of Honglie refers to Huainan zi , since the book is also called Huainan honglie and filled with Daoist ideologies.

77 Cyan ox originally refers to Laozi who is said to ride on a cyan ox to depart from Han’gu Pass. Later it is also used to refer to immortals in general.

78 “Vermillion Birds” are seven stars in the south. Thus, the window of “Vermillion Birds” means the window facing the south.

79 Liu Yan , a high rank official in Western Shu, had dozens of singing girls in his house and these singing girls were taught to recite “Lu lingguang dian fu” (San’guo zhi , 40.1001). !36

palace ladies] reciting “The Rhapsody on Bamboo Flute.”80 These fair ladies pass the time [with this poetry collection]. Oh, the Red Brush probably will not ridicule them!81

The preface starts with describing the setting of the inner palace by mentioning You Yu’s visit to the Qin palaces and Zhang Heng’s rhapsody on the Han palaces. The deeds of You Yu and

Zhang Heng can be seen as literati’s physical or literary venture into the inner palace, which echoes with deeds of the compiler of the Yutai xinyong and some of the poets being selected into the collection — compiling a poetry anthology dedicated to palace ladies and writing poems on palace ladies. When the compiler turns to introduce and depict these palace ladies, he, however, stresses the ownership of these ladies belongs to the ruler by stating that these ladies are living on the Rampart Terrace of Zhou king and in the Golden Chamber of Han emperor. Thus, the compiler clarifies himself and sets up the tone of the compilation as a literary venture into the inner palace with no offence right from the beginning of the preface.

Then the preface presents a detailed portrayal of the beautiful women within the inner palace. These are a group of women with fair look, gentle disposition, and extraordinary musical skills, and they try to find different ways to idle away their time while waiting for the call of the emperor. This juxtaposes with the poems included in the Yutai Xinyong, since “abandoned lady” longing for her lover and gorgeous-looking female music entertainer are two dominant themes in the Yutai Xinyong poems. And almost all the allegorical motifs and imagery that are used to describe palace ladies in the preface frequently appear in the anthologized poems as well.

80 The Prime Tower was the name of heir apparent’s palace in the Han Dynasty. When Emperor Yuan of Han was still heir apparent, he ordered the ladies in his palace to recite Wang Bao’s “Dongxiao fu” 最 (Hanshu, 64.2829).

81 The Red Brush refers to women historians in ancient time, as they used red-tube brush to record history. !37

These allegorical motifs and imagery include: “Delicate Maid,” “Radiant Smile,” slender waist in the Chu palace, delicate hands of the Wei state, the maid of Dongling, Xishi, Lady Li, Zhao

Feiyan, the Qin girl playing flute, Empress Chen in the Palace of Eternal Joy, Wei Zifu changing clothes for Emperor Wu, swinging the slender waist, hair temple in the style crying cicada, hair bun of falling from the saddle, moth brows, rouge blooming on the side of their cheeks, the flying of the sleeves, the wafting of the fragrance, dress as if flying swallows, lady on the painting in the

Palace of Sweet Spring, and the goddess on the Terrace of Sunlit. While the middle of the second paragraph in the preface depicts the palace ladies as music entertainers, the depiction focuses on their makeup, adornment, and the motion of clothes —- which is also a commonly used means of expression in poems on female entertainers anthologized in the Yutai Xinyong. To some extent, the depiction of “beautiful women” in the preface is a summary of the epitomes of women in those anthologized poems.

After depicting their gorgeous look and musical talents, the compiler indicates that these palace ladies also have exquisite literate skills. Even though they are good at those common entertainments of idling time like playing pitch-pot and chess, they still prefer reading new poems to pass time when facing the quiet and boring life in the palace. And that is why the compiler composes this poetry collection which is intended to “slightly relieve their distress.” According to

Xu Yunhe’s study of the preface, the parallel between reading new poems and playing pitch-pot and chess in the preface shows that the Yutai xinyong, as a poetry collection for palace ladies to read, functions as a pacifier, like the behaviour of gambling and chess-playing discussed in The

Analects. Within the “Yanghuo” , Confucius says “Stuff yourself with food all day, never give your mind anything to do, and you’re a problem! There’s chess, isn’t there? There’s weiqi, !38 isn’t there?— wiser at least to busy yourself with these.” , , 真!

? . And Xing Bing’s ⽽ commentary in the Shisan jing zhushu

further explains: “For those ones who stuff themselves with food all day and have nothing to entertain themselves, it is easy for the lust to grow up. Therefore, Confucius instructs them and says: ‘Are there not people gambling and playing chess for entertainment?’ Even if they do these things, it is still better than doing nothing. Confucius wants them to take these things as entertainment and, thus, they will not grow their mind for lust.” , ,

, 來: “得?” , ,

. If gambling and playing chess are acceptable means of preventing the growth of lust in

Confucianism, then reading poetry, despite love poetry, is surely an acceptable solution as well or even a better one. Moreover, such parallel and comparison between poetry and gambling and chess-playing was not initiated by Xu Ling. It has already existed as early as Emperor Wen of

Han. While Emperor Wen were criticized by officials for spending too much time on composing poetry with literati like Wang Bao and Zhang Ziqiao , he replied by quoting

Confucius words: “Are there not people gambling and playing chess? These are better than

[doing nothing].” Also, Xiao Tong , Zhong Rong , Liu Xie Shen Yue all express similar argument in terms of the function of literature, which indicates that it was a common thought in the Southern Dynasties.82 Therefore, the parallel between reading new poems and playing pitch-pot and chess in the preface of the Yutai xinyong states that the compilation of

82 Xu Yunhe, “Nanchao gongjiao yu Yutai xinyong,” 24-5; The translation of the excerpt from the “Yanghuo” is Burton Watson’s translation: Confucius, The Analects of Confucius, trans. Burton Watson (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), 124. !39 this poetry collection not only aims at catering to a group of highly literary palace women’s wishes for new poetry readings but also functions as a pacifier for the palace ladies’ boring life in the inner palace so as to prevent their “distress” from turning to something morally disastrous.

Following the intention of compilation, the preface then talks about how the anthology is compiled and how the book itself is adorned. The compiler collects and selects poems from various works located in different places, and the anthology is hand-copied by excellent calligraphers of the time and adorned with exquisite decorations. What is noticeable in this paragraph are the lines “Rouge and powder in the high towers, thus, are used to revise character lu or yu in the writing” and “[it is as if ] the immortal prescriptions of Honglie being stored inside the red pillow.” While the line of “rouge and powder in the high towers” indicates that there are palace ladies coordinating with the compiler and participating in the editing of the anthology, the line of “the immortal prescriptions of Honglie” shows that the work is favoured and cherished by the palace ladies so much that they store it in the pillow —- as if treating precious immortal prescriptions. Although some scholars propose that palace ladies in these two lines or the female personas in the preface in general can be an allegorical usage referring to the male compiler himself or male poets included in the anthology,83 a careful look at the rites in ancient Chinese court and inner palace will deny such hypothesis. As mentioned earlier in the introduction, Zhang

Peiheng points out that it was always a rigid taboo for court officials to be in association with palace ladies in ancient China, which would usually lead to death penalty.84 Within the “Junchen”

83 e.g. Paul Rouzer, Articulated Ladies, 117-56.

84 Zhang Peiheng, “Yutai xinyong wei Zhang Lihua suo zhuanlu kao.” !40

in the Guanzi , it clearly states that “The inner palace and the outside should not be connected……all the ministers and their families should have no association with the inner palace” ...... .85 In Zhouli , it also says that “when anything in the inner palace has to be conveyed to the officials outside, Shifu will be the one in the charge” 信.86 And there were also examples of the Southern

Dynasties officials paying severe price for associating with the inner palace. For instance, Guo

Ju , an official during the reign of Emperor Zhang of Liu Song, was executed on the spot when being seen to communicate with someone in the inner palace.87 Thus, as Zhang Peiheng claims, it was almost impossible for Xu Ling, the attributed compiler who was an official in the court, to allegorically attribute the compilation and editing of the anthology to a palace lady. Even if he indeed needed to apply such female allegorical metaphors in the preface, he could safely choose women with any other identity rather than bear the high risk of being severely punished to choose to use palace ladies. So if the compiler dares to clearly states that there are palace ladies participating in the editing of the work and the work itself will be cherished by the palace ladies and stored in their pillows, it is most likely to be a realistic record and true description.

In addition, the line of “ the immortal prescriptions of Honglie being stored inside the red pillow” also echoes with the last line of previous paragraph —- “Let me find the gaosu wood for them to slightly relieve their distress.” This poetry collection is as if the immortal prescription

85 Guan Zhong , Guanzi . 31.539. Scripta Sinica.

86 Zhouli , “Shifu” , 34, Scripta Sinica; Shifu in this context refers to female officials in charge of curfew and rites in the inner palace.

87 Shen Yue , Songshu , 39.1239. Scripta Sinica. !41 that relieves those palace ladies’ distress. While having this anthology in their hands, they are no longer the ones wearying of the scattered ringing of the bell or the ones worrying the watch going slowly. Instead, they spend the time on reading and circulating this poetry collection on women and love after the banquet night or makeup morning. In the end, the compiler also contrasts the reading of love poetry collection with other women’s palace education and literary activities in the past. He indicates the shortcoming of Empress Deng’s studying Confucianism and Empress

Dou’s focusing on Daoism as well as points out the limited poems recited by women in the house of Liu Yan and Emperor Yuan. As Rouzer suggests, what the compiler means is “conventional

Confucian and Taoist preoccupations are perhaps too weighty and ideal to task the ‘practical’ lady.”88 Then the compiler concludes the preface with the speculation that palace ladies’ reading the Yutai xinyong is a palace education activity that probably will not be criticized by historians.

Although he does not explicitly declare the Yutai xinyong surpasses all the above mentioned women’s education methods, a statement of superiority of the anthology can already been perceived by that closing sentence. And having such a contrast and comparison between palace ladies’ reading the Yutai xinyong and other women’s education methods in the past at the very end of the preface also reaffirms that the Yutai xinyong is more likely to be an poetry anthology compiled for the purpose of palace ladies’ education.

Coda

Despite the fact that there are very limited extant sources regarding the Six Dynasties women and the biographies and stories of those women being included in the extant historical works may also be the result of the personal preference of the compilers, the ethos of women in

88 Rouzer, Articulated Ladies, 137. !42 that period can still, more or less, be perceived by these materials selected by compilers — most of whom had lived through that period themselves. While it was the ethos of the time in general for women to have various talents in the Six Dynasties, increasingly more women being included in the early Southern Dynasties historical works are the ones with wisdom and intelligence and the attention gradually shifts to women, especially aristocratic and palace women, with literary competence since the middle of the Southern Dynasties. Meanwhile, the Southern Dynasties rulers also attached more importance to the education of palace ladies and it was also a common practice of the time for scholar officials to compile furen ji works for women to read with the content of stories and poems on women. The Yutai xinyong was just compiled under such social and cultural environment, while the compiler himself, in the preface, also clearly states the purpose of the compilation as collecting a poetry anthology for palace ladies to read. And a careful analysis of the whole preface as well as the taboo between court official and palace ladies affirms that the Yutai xinyong was probably intended to be an poetry anthology for palace ladies to read at the time of its compilation. !43

Chapter Three

“His Composition”: Poems on Female Entertainers by Male Poets

Although the Yutai xinyong was probably composed as a poetry collection for the education of palace ladies, the poems included in the anthology were not written for such purpose. In addition to a small number of poems attributed to women or anonymous poets, majority poems in the Yutai xinyong are poems on women written by male literati. And as the title, New Songs from the Jade Terrace , indicates, this is a poetry collection focuses on the so- called new songs, that is, lyrics composed during its contemporary Southern Dynasties period.

Therefore, seven out of ten chapters in the Yutai xinyong are dedicated to the Southern Dynasties poems. A large number of these Southern Dynasties poems on women in the Yutai xinyong are categorized as the so-called palace-style poetry, which have been receiving criticism for their decadent nature from Tang Dynasty down to the twenty-first century among Chinese literati and scholars. However, are these Southern Dynasties male literati’s poems on women indeed mischievous composition purely for the purpose of entertainment and leisure? Or, is the definition of decadent poetry is just an arbitrary judgment by the later generations, while these male literati’s poems on women actually contains more complex purpose of composition and more profound underlying significance?

This chapter will explore such purpose of composition and underlying significance of these male literati’s poems on women in the Yutai xinyong by examining a popularly adopted theme in the anthology —- poems on female music entertainers. These poems are mainly about the dancers and singers performing in the court or at the residence of aristocrats, and quite a few of these poems belong to the category of the yingling shi, (, “poems written on !44 command”). The poets place great emphasis on the entertainers’ makeup, hair accessories, and ornaments on the clothes. Meanwhile, the dancing and singing skills of these music entertainers are another focus in the poems as well.

An example of these poems on female entertainers is as follows:

個89 Poem on a Singer Jiang Hong 年 Jeweled hairpin divides pearl flowers. Clear and distinct, elaborate ornaments adorn her. ⾃90 Thin temples are painted with pale yellow. Light blush is tapped on her powdered face. Starting to talk, fragrance has already spread out. Besides, [the fragrant smell] is perfumed by orchid leaves. Her floating voice easily gives way to sad sighs. The low and deep singing is smooth but precarious. She, alone, turns back and all at once lingers. 为 Pair of eyebrows suddenly relaxes and then knits. Not the whole of her is shown to the audience — she holds a piece of thin gauze to cover half of herself.

On the surface, this is just a poem with focused and detailed depiction of a singing girl.

But when facing a Southern Dynasties palace-style poem on women like this one, the reader has to build up another world beyond what is described within the poem so as to approach the underlying significance of the poem. One alternative way to build up a world on top of the description in these poems, according to Anne Birrell, is to treat all those depictions of palatial scenery and court ladies as a “metonymic system”: Birrell points out that the reason why palace-

89 Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出 (BeijingZhonghua shuju, 2007), 5.202-3. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 148).

90 or refers to the ancient practice of painting patterns with yellow pigments on women’s face. It is also called , , , and . !45 style poets depict the palatial settings and women in very detail is to try to create a “surface reality;” and each of these detailed depictions contains its symbolic meaning while all the symbolic meanings together form a “metonymic system.”91 In other words, the surface reality constructed by detailed and focused depictions in palace-style poetry actually intends to create another world of metonymic reality. Instead of being sensual and evocative metaphors, those detailed images of palaces and women actually are entry points to a sophisticate network of meanings. By deciphering and stringing these poetic images together, the ultimate underlying reality of the poem will then be revealed.

At Banquet: Courtesan and / or Poet

If trying to decode the metonymic system in these male literati’s poems on female entertainers, this exploration probably should start with examining the main characters within the poems. The entertainer herself is undoubtedly a main character in these poems. But, she is not the only one: the poet who observes and, of course, portrays the entertainer is another essential character and even the other protagonist. In fact, the poem is rather a poem about the poet’s observation and portrayal of an entertainer than a realistic depiction of the female entertainer.

Thus, there is a gap or difference between the poet’s perception of the entertainer and the actual entertainer herself. In his The Dance in Theory, John Martin attributes peoples’ various perceptions towards dance and other performing arts to their various cultural and personal experiences, and he describes the process of understanding the performing art as a process of

91Anne Birrell, Games Poets Play (Cambridge: McGuinness China Monographs, 2004), 3-4. !46 transforming the performance into an “assimilable stuff” in the spectator’s actual life.92 Martin then further proposes that a conscious spectator will imitate the actor or the performer in his mind, which is given a terminology of “inner mimicry” by Martin. As a result, the spectator is no longer passively sitting there but actively participates in the performance; and the spectator somewhat forms a kind of synthesis with the performance as well as the performers.93

While Martin’s theory of dance is a highly conceptualized one which may apply to various spectators with diverse cultural and social background, Paul Rouzer’s exposition of the relation between the Southern Dynasties poets and the female protagonists in their poems narrows down the cultural and historical sphere of the spectators and pushes the discussion a step further. Rouzer thinks that most poems on female protagonists in Southern Dynasties represents a homosocial relation instead of a heterosexual relation between the poet and the female protagonist, since these kinds of poems were often composed in a public situation such as the banquet. As for that homosocial relation, Rouzer defines it as the relation between the rulers and their literati guests attending the banquet or the relation among those literati guests themselves.94

The the scene of the poetic composition at the banquet of the Southern Dynasties court can be sketched by piecing together by those fragmental records of palatial banquet and incidental mentions of banquet-related events in the official histories of the Southern Dynasties.

At those banquets, emperor or prince together with literati poets first were watching the

92 John Joseph Martin, The Dance in Theory (Princeton, NJ : Princeton Book Co., 1989), 3-5; 23-4. 93 Ibid., 19-23.

94 Paul Rouzer, Articulated Ladies: Gender and the Male Community in Early Chinese Texts (Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2001), 11. !47 performance of the entertainers. In the latter part or the end of the banquet, the host and the guests started to compose poems as an amusement; the topics of their composition were often the music performance and the entertainers that they had just watched.95

In such imperial banquet setting, the role of the literati poets attending banquet and the entertainers performing at the banquet are somehow similar. Both the poets and the entertainers are the ones who provide pleasure for emperor during the banquet. A vivid example of how the role of poets in the court blurs with the role of entertainers is shown in the Nanqi shu :

信信天信⾼機信信來“信”

When the emperor held a private banquet with several of his ministers, he asked the ministers to imitate courtesans’ performing skills. Chu Yuan played pipa; Wang Sengqian played zither; Shen Wenji sang The Song of Ziye; Zhang Jing’er danced; Wang Jingze beated time for the performance. Wang Jian said: “I don’t have any musical talent and the only thing I can do is reciting from books.”96

Within this anecdote, every minister, except Wang Jian, demonstrates their musical competence, and they amuse the emperor just as what the court entertainers do. Although Wang Jian cannot play any instrument, his suggestion of replacing musical performance by reciting essays actually implies that a literati’s literary competence corresponds to an entertainer’s musical skill.

Moreover, there are also records of both the Southern Dynasties and pre-Southern

Dynasties’ literati scholars composing songs for music entertainers to sing. For instance, the

95 Nanqi shu , 9.148-9; Liangshu , juan 8.166, 168, juan 35.512-3, juan 39.561-2, juan 41.582; Chenshu , 2.36.

96 Nanqi shu . 23.435. This story appears in Wang Jian’s biography in the Nanqi shu and it may be an apocryphal anecdote. It is clearly set up to let Wang Jian distinguish himself as the serious statesmen, where the others are like court entertainers. !48 chapter on music in the Nanqi shu records that Jiang Yan edited ji geci (, “Songs for

Courtesans”) and literati in the house of Prince Jingling wrote a group of songs called Yongping yuege (, “Music Songs for Forever Peace”), while both Jiang Yan’s ji geci and

Yongping yuege are indicated as songs intended to be performed at the imperial banquet.97 Zhang

Hua and Fu Xuan from the Jin Dynasty also composed a number of songs for dance and those songs were continued to be used at imperial banquet at least till the Qi Dynasty.98 When courtesans sang and danced those songs at banquet, the literati guests were not just watching an entertaining music performance. Instead, they were listening and watching female courtesans who have been imprinted with literati’s own nature and are carrying out literati literary expression in a female voice.

The Power of Literary Competence

While these literati attended imperial banquets and composed poems, their poetry composition is not simply an entertainment to liven up the atmosphere in the banquet. In fact, a

Southern Dynasties court official’s literary skill, especially his poetic competence, also has something to do with his social status and career prospect. Quite a few literati biographies in the

Southern Dynasties histories contain accounts in which their literary or poetic competence made them receive reward and career promotion.99 And a record in the chapter of literature in the

97 Nanqi shu , 11.196.

98 Ibid, 11.190-2.

99 Nanqi shu , juan 34.608, juan 41.730, juan 52.891, 894, 896, 906-7; Liangshu , juan 1.2, juan 8.165-6, juan 13.230, 233, 23.361, juan 27.402-4, 407, juan 33.469-71, 475, 480, 485, juan 41.582, 586, 591, juan 49.686-90, 693, 697-8; Chenshu , juan 16.223-6, juan 27.343-4, 348-9, juan 30.396-8, 400, juan 34. 454-6, 461-5, 469. !49

Liangshu even clearly states: all those literati officials with exquisite literary skill, who were introduced into the court of Emperor Wu, had received generous rewards from the emperor although their career promotion might not be at the exact same time.100 Meanwhile, there are also cases of literary skills helping literati officials resume their official posts in the Southern

Dynasties. One of the examples is Liu Xiaochuo : Liu Xiaochuo was once dismissed from his post because of being reported to move into the new house with his concubine and leave his old mother at the old house; however, Liu Xiaochuo was still invited to attend palace banquets; once when Emperor Wu of Liang ordered literati to compose jitian shi ( “Poem on the

Plowing Ritual”), Liu’s work was the best among dozens of compositions; as a result, Emperor

Wu granted him a new official post on the same day.101 In Graham Sanders terms, a literati official’s literary and poetic competence was a means for him to “navigate” and “excel” in the elite society of the Southern Dynasties.102

In addition to showing off their literati skills for potential career promotion, attending and organizing literati banquets was also a way of building up a political network — both for the literati guests and the patron, since literary circle is also a political power circle. While the patron establishes his own literary circle in order to recruit loyal followers and consolidate his power, the literati within the circle compete with each other for the favour of the patron as well as build up friendship and political bonds with their colleague literati. For example, Prince Jingling of Qi,

100 Liangshu , 49.688.

101 Ibid., 33.482.

102 Graham Sanders, Words Well Put: Visions of Poetic Competence in the Chinese Tradition (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2006), 136-40. !50

Emperor Wu of Liang, and Emperor Wu’s two sons —- Xiao Gang and Xiao Tong all had their own literati circle. Emperor Wu of Liang and his literati circle is perhaps the best example of the dual functions of the literary circle for both literati and their patron. Emperor Wu used to be a member of the so-called Jingling bayou (, “Eight Friends of Jingling”). In this literary circle associated with Prince Jingling of Qi, Emperor Wu, who was still a scholar official at the time, also developed his own political connections. Those members of Jingling bayou like Shen

Yue, Fan Yun , Ren Fang 之, Lu Chui , who survived from the turbulent late years of the Qi Dynasty, all became Emperor Wu’s loyal ministers in the new dynasty and, of course, guests at the new emperor’s poetry banquet.103 And the imperial patrons not only gathered literati officials for literary events like poetry composition at royal banquet but also participated in those cultural activities themselves. Sometimes poetry compositions at the banquet sometimes might start with the royal patron, since some titles of poems on female entertainers in the Yutai xinyong contain the words like fenghe (, “respectfully match”), which indicates these poems corresponds to another poem writing by a person with superior status, presumably the royal patron. In fact, most of those Southern Dynasties royal patrons were excellent poets themselves.

But unlike their literati guests, those royal patrons have no need to pursue anyone’s favour by showing off his poetic competence. For a royal patron, demonstrating his literary and poetic competence in this kind of occasion is more a way of exchanging inner thoughts with his ministers as well as declaring his own superiority.

103 Liangshu , juan 13.230-1, 233-6, 242, juan 14.253-4, juan 27.401-3. !51

Since poetic competence is so important within the Southern Dynasties elite society, then the issue is how to demonstrate such competence to the ruler or how to demonstrate it in an elaborate way. And literati officials’ poetry on female entertainers, in fact, is one of the most elaborate ways to show their talent in a public banquet. As mentioned above, the role between literati officials and female entertainers in the court are somehow similar and blurred. When a literati poet composes a poem on these female entertainers, he not only depicts the female entertainer but also portrays himself as that lady. In his poem, the poet and the female entertainer that he portrays form a synthetic unity. While a spectator’s role is to participate in the performance in their mind by “inner mimicry” in accordance to John Martin’s theory, the

Southern Dynasties court poets execute the mimicry in reality by presenting another performance

– his poem. And the female entertainers in the court are supposed to be exceedingly beautiful and have consummate musical skills. When the poet takes over the role of the female entertainer or shares the role with her in the poem, he also implicitly attributes the depiction of the entertainer’s beauty and the skills in the poem to himself. While the entertainer’s musical skill corresponds to the poet’s literary competence, Rouzer also points out that the beauty of the entertainer and her resplendent ornament may be a counterpart of the poet’s inner virtue.104 In these poems on female entertainers, the poet ingeniously presents his own literary competence and inner virtue by depicting the entertainer’s musical skill and elaborate ornaments, and his ability of convey such subtlety in the poem also reinforces his poetic competence in front of his patron and literati colleagues.

104 Rouzer, Articulated Ladies, 145. According to Rouser, it is extremely hard to describe the inner virtue of a person and using the exterior beauty to represent a person’s inner world may be the only proper solution. !52

Her and His Performance

Let us turn back to the poems and start with the Jiang Hong’s “Poem on a Singer,” the one given at the beginning of this chapter.

Jeweled hairpin and pearled flowers are both fancy accessories, and they are well- arranged, with the layout of pearl flowers surrounding the central hairpin. The words “clear and distinct” at the beginning of the second line not only refers to the glamour of the lady but also implies the distinction between hairpin in the center and the pearl flowers surrounding it.105 Such double layers of meaning contained in the words “clear and distinct” corresponds to the layout of the hairpin and flowers in the first line, which suggests a kind of hierarchy. And such hierarchal arrangement of the accessories may be a micro picture of the hierarchy of attendants at the court banquet in which the composition of this poem took place. The second couplet still focuses on the accessories and the makeup of the singer. But comparing with the fanciness and luxuriousness presented by the jeweled hairpin and pearled flowers in the first couplet, the words “thin temples,” “pale yellow,” and “light blush” in the second couplet all seem to have a sense of lightness and simplicity. As the ornament of the entertainer may be the representation of the poet’s virtue, this kind of proper arrangement and juxtaposition of fanciness and simplicity is an appropriate metaphor for the nature of the poet. The third couplet is about the fragrance. The fragrance firstly comes out when the singer opens her mouth, and then the smell of orchid is added in. From the general fragrant smell at first to the smell of orchid leave in the following line, the fragrance of the singer undergoes a transformation. In Chinese literary tradition, the orchid is often used to represent literati’s purity and loftiness. By depicting such a symbol of the

105 Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出, 203. !53 literati, the poet also embeds the characteristics of literati into the female singer. From this point on, the poet starts to blur the role between himself and the singer and engage himself into his own poetic descriptive world.

Then, when the female singer shows off her superb vocal skill in the fourth couplet, it is no longer just the skill of the singer herself. The sweet voice of the singer demonstrates both the talent of the entertainer and that of the poet. In other words, the sweet voice in this couplet is produced by the synthesis of the poet and the singer. After this, the performance seems to end at the moment that the singer turns back. But the singer then starts to linger instead of leave the stage. She even knits her eyebrows, which may be an action of getting herself in the mood for the next song. In the last couplet the poet states that the singer is actually holding thin gauze to cover herself, which means the audience has not seen everything about the singer yet, even though the poet has given such a detailed depiction of the singer. In the meanwhile, the transparency of light gauze functions both as a prop to cover and a prop to reveal. Therefore, the singer’s lingering together with her action of covering herself by light gauze indicates a kind of non-fulfillment in the end of the poem, which invites the audience and readers to further explore the identity and characteristics of the protagonist.

106 Poem on Dance, Composed under the Command Wang Xun ⽅. The fresh makeup has already been incomparable; . the spectacular dance is also like an immortal. . Bend her waist to catch the melodious pipe; . gather her lapels to listen to the tensed strings. . Weightless sleeves, the wind goes through effortlessly; 對. heavy hairpins, her steps can hardly move forward.

106 Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出, 8.370-1. !54

. Her smiling face weighs thousands of gold. . The fragrance of her clothes spreads ten miles afar. 經. Compare her with “the Flying Swallow,” . it is clear who is more gentle and lovely.

Like the previous poem, this one also starts with praising the beautiful makeup of the female dancer. After complimenting the dancer as immortal goddess in the second line, the poet then depicts the motions of the dancer in detail in the following two couplets. Within each of these two couplets, the dancer alternates between motion and pause: after bending her waist to catch the tone of the pipe, she turns to listen to the sound of the string with attentive countenance; while she moves her sleeves weightlessly as if being blown by the wind at one moment, in the next heavy hairpins seem to make her hardly be able to move forward. On the surface, these alternations between motion and pause are just artistic depictions that shows the dynamics and varieties of the dancing movement. But it may actually be a metaphor for the switch of roles between the dancer and the audience. In the first pause in the fourth line of the poem, the female dancer’s action of listening to the music transforms her from a performer to an audience and blurs the role between the two — just as the literati poets, who are watching her performance, are also both audience and performers themselves. Moreover, the action of gathering one’s lapels in the fourth line is frequently found as a male action in ancient Chinese texts. While the protagonist dances as a female musical entertainer in the third line, she then pauses and gathers her lapels like a male scholar does when listening to the tensed strings. By endowing the female dancer with such male characteristics, the poet further synthesizes the female dancer with her male literati audience. And for the second pause in the sixth line, the dancer is hampered by the heavy hairpins. As discussed earlier, the ornamental accessories and clothes of the female entertainers in !55 these type of poems are often symbols of the inner virtue of the poet who synthesizes with the female entertainers. Thus, the movement hampered by the hairpins is not a flaw of the performance but a demonstration of the abundant virtue that the synthesized protagonist carries.

In the first line of the second last couplet, the poet describes the smile of the protagonist as weighing thousands of gold. The usage of depicting women’s smile as weighing thousands of gold derives from “Qiyi" (, “Seven Reliances”) by Cui Yin ⼈ (?-92) from the Eastern

Han Dynasty: “Contented by the wine with the accompany of music. There are beautiful women entering to serve at the banquet. They are so cheerful that smoothes out the countenance [of the guests]. A glance back worths millions. A smile worths thousands of gold. .

. . . .”107 By applying this allegory of thousands-of-gold smile in his poem, the poet not only presents a synthesized protagonist with extraordinary qualities in front of his patron at the banquet but also implies how his patron should reward someone with such qualities. The following line of the couplet is on the fragrance of the dancer’s clothes spreading miles afar. Like the ornaments of the female entertainer, her fragrance is also a personal characteristics of the dancer that symbolizes the inner qualities of the synthesized protagonist. While the other ornaments like makeup and hair accessories are physically attached to the protagonist herself and the audience can only appreciate them from distance, the spread of the fragrance can be seen as an action of delivering that personal characteristics and inner qualities to the audience for a close examination and appreciation.

107 Ouyang Xun , Yiwen leiju (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1965), 57.1024. The original text of “Qiyi” has already lost. There are only excerpts surviving in the Yiwen leiju and the Beitang shuchao . !56

After a series of depictions on the female dancer’s appearance, dancing skills, the switch and blurring of the roles between the female dancer and the literati audience, and the subtle interaction between the synthesized protagonist and the audience, the poet then compares the protagonist with Zhao Feiyan, presumably the most gorgeous and skillful dancer of all time, which corresponds to the comparison and competition on poetry compositions among literati guests at the banquet. Furthermore, the poet not only sets up such comparison between the synthesized protagonist and other capable candidates, presumably, in the presence of his patron but also makes choice for his patron by the confident statement in the last line of the poem — “it is clear who is more gentle and lovely.”

The Patron and “His Courtesans”

108 Poem on a Dance Xiao Gang So lovely, she is barely at the age of sixteen. Follow the tempo as if a flying swan goose. Far surpasses the courtesans from Heyang. Is inwardly the same as the ones from Huainan. Rejoin the row, they watch her shoes proceeding forward. 也 Turn round, they gaze toward her bun in the empty air. Her wrists stir the Jade of Tiao and Hua, The sleeves flutter with the Wind of Ruyi. The honored guests: why are you getting up? “The Song of the Crow Crying” has not ended yet.

This is a poem by Xiao Gang who was one of those royal patrons in the Southern

Dynasties that had his own literary circle. While he composed poems on female entertainers

108 Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出, 7.297. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 198). !57 together with his literati guests at the banquet and even used means of expressions as his guests, the message that is conveyed from his poem is somehow different from poems by his guests.

In the first couplet, the poet depicts the lovely young dance girl as a flying swan goose.

The figure of the flying swan goose being used to depict musical performance derives from

“Changdi fu” (, “Rhapsody on Flute”) by Ma Rong : “Then listen to the sound for its correspondence to the shape. The shape is like water and also similar to flying swan goose.

, , .”109 And Li Shan’s commentary on Ma Rong’s poem quotes a

“Way of the Lute”: “the Tune of Boyi is like the sound of flying swan goose.’ 來: ,

.”110 Therefore, by adopting the flying swan goose to portray the dance girl, Xiao

Gang has already embedded the characteristics of literati official on this dancer girl. Then the poet compares the dancer girl with courtesans from Heyang and Huainan to show the exquisite dancing skills of the girl as well as to imply the competition for poetic competence among literati guests at the banquet. However, what truly makes this couplet interesting is the line on the dancer from Huainan. Huainan is regarded as a place producing excellent dancers due to Zhang Heng’s

“Wufu” (, “Rhapsody on Dancer”): “there was once a traveler watching the dance in

Huainan; it was so beautiful that he rhapsodizes……. 來……”111

In other words, despite the fact that the dancer of Huainan is a skillful performer herself, it is

Zhang Heng’s poetic competence of being able to compose a spectacular rhapsody on the dance

109 Xiao Tong , Wenxuan , ed. Li Shan (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1986), 18.814. 110 Ibid.

111 Ouyang Xun, Yiwen leiju. 43.770. !58 that establishes and spreads the fame of the dancer. By mentioning the dancer from Huainan in this line, Xiao Gang as a poet both compliments the skill of the dancer and declares his own literary excellence of presenting the dancer’s exquisite skill in the poem.

The following two couplets present a detailed depiction on the choreography of the dancer. In the first of the two couplets, the dancer moves towards the audience at first as she proceeds forward. But she soon turns back and only leaves her hair bun for them to gaze at.

While the dancer is seemingly approachable for the audience in the first line of the couplet, it actually proves to be just a false consciousness since the dancer’s turning back rejects such approachability. Then, the other couplet portrays the arm movement of the dancer. As her wrists move, the jade of Tiao and Hua that she wears is dangling. The jade of Tiao and Hua refers to the story of King Jie of Xia and two of his favourite ladies. In order to stop King Jie of Xia’s expedition against Shanmin , The King of Shanmin presented two beautiful women, Wan and Yan to Jie. Jie ardently loved these two women. So he ordered their names to be engraved on jade as Tiao and Hua. Tiao refers to Wan and Hua refers to Yan.112 As the dancer’s sleeves move, they flutter with the wind of Ruyi. And the wind of Ruyi in the second line of this couplet refers to Wang Rong , one of the Zhulin qixian, (, “the Seven Sages of the Bamboo

Groves”), who was good at dancing. Wang Rong liked to dance with Ruyi in his hand, which was

112 Pei Yin’s 開 commentary on Shiji by quoting Gu Pu’s 國 quotation of Jizhong zhushu 過. Sima Qian , Shiji (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1962) 117.3028. !59 called the Dance of Ruyi by later generations.113 Unlike in the other poems by literati guests, where the ornamental accessories of the female entertainers are just symbols of the inner virtue of the literati poets themselves, the ornaments on the arms of the dancer in this couplet are given a different twist of meaning. Since the jade of Tiao and Hua allegorizes the affection of the ruler toward his ladies, the dancer’s wearing the jade of Tiao and Hua not only indicates the patron’s favour toward her but also implies that it was the favour of the patron that makes her shine. While the following line depicts the fluttering of the dancer’s sleeves by the Wind of Ruyi, it reveals the hidden literati identity of this female protagonist.

The depiction of the actual performance seems to come to an end at this point. However, the last couplet of the poem clearly states that it is still not the end of the performance – because the song has not finished yet. This song can refer to not only the music performed by the entertainer but also the poem composed by the poet at the banquet. While the musical entertainment of the night may come to an end, the poetic composition among literati poets just starts. Or, the statement of “” also can be interpreted as: though the song produced by

Xiao Gang himself comes to an end, there are still songs by other poets following it. The statement of “ใ๚奰” in the last line of the poem, therefore, blurs the boundaries of the performance of the entertainer, the work of the poet, and the poems composed by poet’s colleagues. Furthermore, this particular song performed by Xiao Gang and his literati guests is called tiwu qu (“The Song of the Crow Crying”). The origin of tiwu song is attributed to Liu

113 Liu Yiqing , Shishuo xinyu jianshu 出, 23.748. Scripta Sinica.; Yu Xin , “Duijiu ge” in Lu Qinli 好, Xianqin Han Wei Jin Nanbei chao shi (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2006), 2347. !60

Yiqing , Prince Linchuan of Song. Liu Yiqing once showed his sympathy toward Liu

Yikang , a prince who was dismissed by Emperor Wen of Song, and Emperor Wen was upset by this. Liu Yiqing worried that he would be punished by the emperor. But his concubine, a courtesan, told him that he would obtain emperor’s forgiveness the next day because she heard the crow crying at night. This prophecy indeed came true and Liu Yiqing was even promoted soon after this incident. Afterwards, Liu Yiqing composed the song of “Crow Crying at Night”

.114 Thus, “The Song of the Crow Crying” is actually a song on the benevolence and special favour of the ruler. By calling the poems composed by his literati guests at the banquet as tiwu song, Xiao Gang subtly reaffirms the hierarchy between him and his literati guests as well as reminds the guests that the following poetic composition is an opportunity for them to gain his special favour.

As Xiao Gang calls upon his literati guests to continue “The Song of the Crow Crying,” it may be assumed that they start to compose poems on this dancer one after another in the rest of the banquet. One of these poems on the same dancer is included in the Yutai xinyong and it is written by Xu Ling, the compiler of the anthology.

115 Respectfully Following “Poem on the Dance” Xu Xiaomu At fifteen, she was owned by Princess Pingyang. Thereupon she entered Jianzhang Palace. In master’s house, she was talented at learning dancing. Within the city, she can also paint exquisite makeup.

114 Liu Xu , Jiu tangshu 29.1065. Sinica Scripta.

115 Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出, 8.356. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 226). !61

也新 Lower the hair bun that faces the brocade mats. Raise the sleeves that caresses the yellow flower. Candlelight sends out her silhouette beside the window. Garment passes on the fragrance in the chest box. Probably because she would like to detain the guests, on purpose, her dancing clothes drag on the ground.

Like Xiao Gang’s poem, this poem by Xu Ling also starts with mentioning the age of the dance girl. However, the female protagonist in Xiao Gang’s poem is just a dance girl without any particular identity while the girl in this poem is associated with Wei Zifu. Wei Zifu was originally a courtesan in the house of Princess Pingyang and then was brought into the inner palace after serving Emperor Wu of Han once in the house of Princess Pingyang; also, her brother Wei Qing

was brought into the imperial palace to serve as royal guard and all of Wei Qing’s promotions in his early years also corresponds with the elevation of Wei Zifu’s status in the inner palace.116 By identifying the dance girl with Wei Zifu in the first couplet, the poet conveys the message that the female protagonist is someone who gains extraordinary favour from the patron as well as implies that there is also male-official counterpart of this female figure.

The second couplet praises the talents of the protagonist — her dancing skill and her ability to paint exquisite makeup. And the word, exquisite makeup , in this couplet may actually be a pun: while the female dancer is applying makeup on her face as a beautiful cover to attract her male audience, the male literati audience also uses her image as an exquisite disguise in their poems on her to present their own personal expressions. So the one who is capable of painting exquisite makeup is not just the female dancer but the poet himself as well, whereas the capability of ingeniously presenting himself by the image of female entertainer in poetic

116 Shiji, 49.1978-80. !62 composition is also a demonstration of a male literati guest’s literary competence. Meanwhile, the first four lines of this poem all contain words that indicate the ownership of the protagonist.

, , , all indicate that the female protagonist belongs to her patron. While such emphasis on patron’s ownership of the female protagonist echoes with the inapproachability of the dance girl depicted in Xiao Gang’s original poem and reaffirms the hierarchy between the patron and the guests, it also implicitly presents the poet’s own loyalty toward his princely patron,

Xiao Gang.

In the following two lines, the protagonist approaches the brocade mats that the audience sit on and raises her sleeves in front of them to caress her yellow flower. The yellow flower refers to the ancient practice of painting flower pattern or pasting golden yellow paper cut into the shape of flower on women’s forehead. Usually only the maids who had never married could paint the yellow flower on her forehead, since it is symbol of women’s beauty, virginity, and virtue. As in Xiao Gang’s poem the female protagonist raises her sleeves to flutter with the Wind of Ruyi which reveals her hidden literati identity, the protagonist in this poem by Xu Ling, on the other hand, raises the sleeves to caress her ornamental yellow flower to signify the inner virtue of the protagonist. Then, the silhouette of the protagonist is reflected on the window by the candlelight.

According to Tian Xiaofei’s study on the theme of candlelight in palace-style poetry, the candle creates both shadow and light. As the shadow is a sign of mystery and ambiguity, it blurs the boundary between metaphor and reality. And the fact that the shadow can be seen is ultimately because of the existence of the light, which is also an illumination in the darkness.117 While the shadow on the window makes the identity of the protagonist ambiguous and blurring, the garment

117 Tian Xiaofei, Beacon Fire and Shooting Star, 241-52. !63 of the protagonist in the next line then reminds the audience of her presence as well as illuminates her identity and image —- the garment passes on the fragrance in her chest box to the audience, which delivers qualities and virtues of the protagonist from the inside out.

At the end of Xiao Gang’s poem, the poet asks the guests not to stand up because “The

Song of the Crow Crying” has not ended yet. Likewise, in the last couplet of this poem by Xu

Ling the protagonist drags her dancing clothes on the ground so as to detain the guests. Just as

Xiao Gang leaves the song unfinished to let his literati guests to continue the performance, the protagonist in Xu Ling’s poem also tries to make her audience to linger on and the action of dragging her dance clothes on the ground is as if passing the relay baton of this poetic performance to the next poet.

Coda

These poems on female music entertainers written by the Southern Dynasties male poets are not just descriptive portrayals of the female entertainers. The role of the female courtesans in the court is somehow similar to that of the literati guests at the imperial banquet: providing either musical or literary entertainment. At banquet, literati guests together with their patron watch female courtesan’s performance at first and then they compose poems on the female courtesan whose image in the poems, as a result of the inner mimicry of the poets, is constructed as a synthesized unity of herself and the male poets. While female courtesans pursue the favour and affection of her audience by showing her musical performance skill, her literati audience also tries to gain the favour of their patron by demonstration their literary skill in another performance at the banquet — poetic composition on music performers. On the other hand, patrons actively !64 participate in such poetic composition at the banquet as well, where their compositions serve as both reaffirmation of their superiority and communication with their literati ministers. !65

Chapter Four

“Her Response”: Female Readers’ Reception

When the Southern Dynasties male literati poets compose these Yutai xinyong poems on female entertainers at banquet, they are constructing their own performance in the poetic composition so as to serve for their own social and political purposes. However, the Yutai xinyong was probably a poetry collection compiled for the education of palace ladies at the time. And its potential female readers, the Liang and Chen palace ladies, probably understood and received these poems on female entertainers differently when reading them. Indeed, it is almost impossible to trace which palace ladies have read this anthology and consequently their reception of those poems, since the Yutai xinyong is not mentioned in the very limited extant sources on the literary activities of the Southern Dynasties palace ladies and no writing by the Liang and Chen palace ladies has survived except one single poem by Zhang Lihua. But fortunately a number of poems by women poets from literary families survive from that period and were also included in the

Yutai xinyong. While there are totally thirty-five poems attributed to the Southern Dynasties female poets in the Yutai xinyong, half of them are written by two women —- Shen Manyuan

and Liu Lingxian who were the granddaughter of Shen Yue and the sister of Liu

Xiaochuo respectively.

On one hand, little is known about Shen Manyuan and Liu Lingxian other than their relation and interaction with their male family members. The extant historical records only show that Shen Manyuan married Fan Jing , the Western Expedition Officer of the Liang Dynasty; she left three-volume poetry collection, the Shen Manyuan ji , which has already been !66 lost.118 As for Liu Lingxian, she was married to Xu Fei ; upon the death of Xu Fei, Liu

Lingxian composed a mournful and touching eulogy; while Xu Fei’s father Xu Mian previously planned to write the eulogy himself, he gave up on writing it after reading Liu

Lingxian’s.119 And Liu Lingxian and Xu Fei’s poetry exchange also makes them the model of faithful love in later generations.120 The bibliographical treatise of the Suishu says Liu Lingxian also left a three-volume poem collection, while the Xin tangshu records it as a six-volume one.121 However, this collection has been lost as well.

On the other hand, Shen Yue and Liu Xiaochuo both have their own biography in

Liangshu that comprehensively records not only their political life but also their literary achievement. As the leading poets of the time and the members of Emperor Wu’s literary circle,

Shen Yue and Liu Xiaochuo were frequent guests of palatial banquet and poetry gathering- together.122 More than forty poems on women written by Shen Yue and thirteen poems by Liu

Xiaochuo were included in the Yutai xinyong, and it is very likely that Shen Manyuan and Liu

Lingxian have read these poems by their grandfather and brother. So despite the lack of extant sources on the direct female readers’ reception of the Yutai xinyong poems, Shen Manyuan and

118 Yutai xinyong jianzhu 出, 209; Suishu , 35. 1079.

119 Liangshu , 33.484.

120 Although Xutai xinyong includes two pairs of Liu Lingxian and Xu Fei’s poems writing to each other, this chapter is not going to discuss these poems. The reason is: this chapter mainly focuses on examining female readers’ reception of the image of female courtesans portrayed by male poets, whereas the poetry exchange between Liu and Xu is more about replying the other person and expressing love and longing between each other.

121 Ouyang Xiu , Xin Tangshu , 60.1597. Scripta Sinica

122 Liangshu, 13.233-6, 33.480. !67

Liu Lingxian, who were exposed to the poetry of their male family members who happened to be major poets in the Yutai xinyong, can still be seen as indirect female readers of the anthology.

Moreover, as discussed in chapter one, the content of the Yutai xinyong and other works compiled for palace education in the Southern Dynasties is usually stories and poems on women. In other words, these works may intend to use the image of women within the works as the exempla and epitomes for their potential female readers to emulate and self-reflect. While a majority of the women depicted in the Yutai xinyong poems are historical and fictional figures, the fact that Shen

Manyuan and Liu Lingxian’s poems are also included in the Yutai xinyong makes them and the image of women depicted in their poems vivid contemporary exemplars for the potential female readers at that time as well. Therefore, this chapter will examine poems by Shen Manyuan and Liu

Lingxian in the Yutai xinyong in comparison with their male family members’ poems in the anthology so as to see what possible messages that these male poets’ poems on female music performers in the anthology convey to the potential female readers and how female readers receive and reconstruct them.

Like the female-voiced persona portrayed by male poet in the Southern Dynasties poetry, the female role in Japanese kabuki is also impersonated by male performer who is called onnagata . While onnagata is traditionally thought of as the ideal female image constructed by male ideology, Katherine Mezur takes a further step to elucidate the issue in a new direction in her book, Beautiful Boys/Outlaw Bodies: Devising Kabuki Feminine-Likeness. According to

Mezur, despite painting his face, hands, neck, and all the other skin areas that reveal to the audience with white powder, onnagata still leaves a thin line of unpainted skin between the painted white face and hairline or between the painted neckline and the collar of kimono. Such a !68 thin line of unpainted skin notifies and reminds the audience of the difference between the onnagata’s original gender and the gender that he impersonates. And instead of a presentation of a male-and female-relationship, the audience’s awareness of the male body beneath the onnagata’s female gender performance creates a more ambiguous, mobile, and diverse relationship between the male and female roles on the stage — which is up to the interpretation of the audience in accordance with their own cultural and personal experiences. Nevertheless, no matter how diverse the gender relationship in kabuki created by onnagata is, the idealized feminine image that onnagata portrays still becomes the model of behaviour for Japanese women to imitate generation after generation since the Edo period.123

The male poets in the Yutai xinyong are similar to the case of kabuki onnagata: they take a female voice in their poems for various different political, social, and personal reasons, whereas the selection of their poems into an anthology for palace education makes the female image constructed by these male poets become the exemplars for the anthology’s female readers to imitate. While there are few contemporary female poets who are also included in the Yutai xinyong and compose poetry in the similar way as their male counterparts, their poems not only set up more vivid exemplars for the potential female readers of the anthology to emulate but also reflect how women at the time receive the poetic female image constructed by the Southern

Dynasties male poets. Furthermore, as Paul Rouzer suggests, the fact that these female poets also take a female voice in their poems is actually a transgression of “cross-gender” — “if speaking

‘as a woman’ is a male right, then the act of writing poetry can allow the woman to break out of

123 Katherine Mezur, Beautiful Boys/Outlaw Bodies: Devising Kabuki Feminine-Likeness (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 1-15. !69 female restraints and reconfigure herself.”124 And in certain cases, these Yutai xinyong female poets indeed take the advantage of this opportunity of woman speaking as a woman to reconstruct the popular female image portrayed by contemporary male poets. But although this process of reconstruction makes it possible for the female protagonists in these Southern Dynasties female poets’ works to transgress the conventional female image endowed by male-written poetry and social traditions, it is also noticeable that the reconstructed female image under the pen of these female poets, to some extent, actually reaffirms the image and value presented in male poets’ works and reemphasizes the importance of virtue and morality.

Shen Yue vs. Shen Manyuan

The follow are two poems on courtesan by Shen Yue and Shen Manyuan respectively.

今125 Poem on Flute Shen Yue Jiangnan, the land of bamboo flute and pipe. Beautiful sound emits from the tender branch. Deep affection is sent forth by jade fingers. Full of love, [her fingers] raise and then droop. Carved beam is winded around [by the sound] for three days. Light dust has been moved for four or five times. The song contains profound meaning. How could you know her sincere heart?

This poem on flute by Shen Yue starts with depicting the beautiful sound of the flute and pipe and pointing out that the sound emits from the tender bamboo branch which is used to make the main body of the flute. But the jade fingers in the second couplet indicate that such beautiful

124 Rouzer, Articulated Ladies, 156.

125 Yutai xinyong jianzhu, 5.190. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 140). !70 music is actually produced by the gentle fingers of the female protagonist. Moreover, what is contained in these finger motions are deep affection and full love which will be further exemplified in the following couplet. Winding around the carved beam for three days in the fifth line refers to the singing of Han’e : Han’e was a courtesan from the Han state and she made a living by singing on her way to the Qi state; it was said that the lingering sound of her singing could wind around the beam for three days.126 As for the movement of the light dust in the sixth line, it refers to Yugong , a man from the Lu state whose singing was so clear and resounding that could even move the dust on the beam.127 On the surface, this couplet uses the anecdotes of Han’e and Yugong to demonstrate the superb musical skill of the female protagonist.

However, by paralleling a female singer’s singing with a male singer’s, it also seems to create a reciprocal dialog and exchange between male and female. While the second to last line in the poem reaffirms that it is not an ordinary musical performance but the one that contains profound underlying meaning, the last line laments that the audience may not sense the sincere heart of the female protagonist. Nevertheless, the poet’s presentation of such lamentation, on the other hand, indicates that the poet is actually the one who knows the courtesan’s sincere heart. Although the poem is titled “On Flute,” the poet only starts with the depiction of the flute. He then extends to the female performer of the instrument and her inner thought and even claims a spot in her heart in the very end of the poem.

126 Liezi , Liezi jishi , ed. Yang Bojun (Hong Kong: Taiping shuju, 1965), 5.111.

127 Yiwen leiju, 43.771. !71

128 Making Fun of Xiao Niang Wife of Fan Jing The curtain of bright pearl and kingfisher feather. The blind of gold foil and emerald veil. Because of the wind, they are lifted for the moment. Within imagination, I see her graceful appearance. In the morning, she puts buyao [in her hair]. At dusk, she looses her gossamer clothes. While entrusting her love to an elegant man, how could the loving affection be kept in secret.

While the wind is blowing the curtain of pearl and feather and lifting the golden blind and emerald veil, the persona sees the gorgeous appearance of the female protagonist, Xiao Niang - although just in his imagination. This is as if referring to the scene that Emperor Wu of Han was calling the soul of Lady Li: after the death of Lady Li, Emperor Wu longed for her so much that he asked one Shaoweng to call her soul; under the illumination of the candlelight at night,

Emperor Wu, from afar, saw a silhouette resembling Lady Li behind the curtains; he was so moved that composed a poem: “Is that her? Is that not her? I stand there and gaze. Why does she arrive so slowly and late? ? ? , ?”129 As Emperor Wu could only gaze the silhouette of his deceased beloved lady from afar without getting any closer, setting a similar scene at the first half of this poem on Xiao Niang emphasizes the imaginative nature of this poem and the doubtful realness of the scenes depicted in the poem. Nonetheless, the persona’s visualization of Xiao Niang continues. The persona not only sees Xiao Niang adorning herself in the morning but also glimpsing her taking off clothes at night which shows the

128 Yutai xinyong jianzhu, 5.209. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 151) and revised in her Games Poets Play (page 185).

129 Hanshu, 97.3952. !72 irresistible desire between the female protagonist and her lover as well as leads the narration to an extremely intimate extent.

But unlike the mutual affection and love in Shen Yue’s poem that are cherished and exchanged between male audience and the female courtesan without any concern or reservation, another voice intrudes in the last couplet of this poem by the female persona. And there are two alternative interpretations of the last couplet. Or, in fact, two different ways of interpreting the

Chinese character si in this context. In the Yutai xinyong yizhu annotated and translated into modern Chinese by Zhang Baoquan , the author suggests that means “in secret” and the last line of this poem can be understood as “how could the loving affection be allowed in secret?”130 In other words, even if she indeed entrusts her love to a gentleman, she still should not cross the boundary of proper behaviour. The other way of interpreting the character is “selfish, ” and Anne Birrell translates the last line as “Surely perfect love can’t bear to be selfish.”131 Birrell also proposes that the female persona in this poem is a principle wife while

Xiao Niang is a singer as well as the new mistress of her husband. Despite of the pain in her heart, the female persona still has to tolerate and accept the new mistress — because a principle wife is not supposed to be selfish and jealous when her husband takes new mistress in accordance to the traditional moral code at that time.132 Although these two interpretations create two different plots, they both conclude the poem with moral admonition: the former admonishes Xiao

130 Zhang Baoquan , Yutai xinyong yizhu (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue chuban she, 2007), 184. 131 Birrell, Games Poets Play, 185.

132 Ibid., 185-6. !73

Niang not to devote her body to her beloved gentleman in secret, while the latter is a self- comforting admonition to the female persona so as to remind herself that what happens between her husband and Xiao Niang is all normal in moral traditions.

Moon and lamp are two of a few limited sources of light at night in the ancient time, and

Shen Yue and his granddaughter write on these two light sources respectively:

133 Poem on the Moon Shen Yue The lustre of the moon befalls the quiet night. The silence of the night extinguishes the dusty air. Square glow even shines into the door. Round shadow comes in from the gaps [of the window]. In the high tower, there is a lovesick lady. At the Western Garden, there are talented gentlemen. Lattice window illuminates the pearl strings. Front gate was lighted up on the green moss. In the deep chamber, it is still not the daybreak yet. The pure light lingers as it pleases.

The splendor of the moon shines at the quiet night. The night is so quiet that it even extinguishes the muddy air. The usage of the word, “extinguishes,” in the second line of the poem not only highlights the silence of the night but, more importantly, also presents an atmosphere of absolute stillness which probably contains Buddhist concept as well.134 As “quietness,”

133 Yutai xinyong jianzhu, 5.188-9. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 140).

134 The Southern Dynasties saw prosperous development of Buddhism. Various Buddhist sutras were translated into Chinese and circulated among the literati circle at the time. It was also a common practice for literati poets to apply Buddhist thoughts and concepts into their poetic compositions. !74

“extinction,” and “purity” are essential mindsets for practicing the dhyana (meditation),135 the atmosphere of extinction brought by the absolute silence at the night and the sense of purity brought by the splendor of the moon in the first couplet, to some extent, frame an ideal setting for

Buddhist meditation. In such absolute quiet night, the moon comes into the house — but not its full glow though. The glow of the moon is obstructed by door and window and it is only able to penetrate into the house from the gaps or in the shape of the square door, which creates a sense of confinement. And who is confined in such space at night is the lovesick lady in the high tower, whereas the talented gentlemen are gathering together at the Western Garden at the same time.

The gathering of the gentlemen contrasts the solitary image of the lady while the presumable joy and pleasure of the gentlemen’s party juxtaposes the sorrow of the lovesick lady. Also, the moon makes the lattice window overlay upon the pearl strings. The shape of lattice and the strings is as if bars and fence, which re-emphasize the isolation and confinement of the female protagonist.

The gate was shined on by the green moss in the yard that sets off the desolation of the residence because of few visitors. As the day break still has not arrived, the moonlight lingers as it pleases in the deep chamber— as if a never-ending reminder to the female protagonist for her loneliness and sorrow. But on the other hand, in the second last couplet, the moonlight through the lattice window also illuminates the deep chamber and its glow lights up the desolate courtyard. And the pure moonlight and its pleasant lingering in the last line also reveals a sense of peace and enjoyment. Despite constructing and intensifying the loneliness of the female protagonist and her isolated residence, the moon, within this poem by Shen Yue, also seems to bring illumination and

135 Vadrasamadhi Sutra, quoted in Buddhist Texts though the Ages, ed. Edward Conze (New York: Philosophical Library, 1956), 276. !75 peace to the female protagonist — which echoes with the Buddhist meditation setting at the beginning of the poem.

136 Poem on Lamp Wife of Fan Jing 新和 On the embroidered [banquet] mats, the sun has already set. Beside the gossamer curtain, the moon has not returned yet. Blooming like flower, [the lamp flame] scatters the glow of crane. In the radiance, it comes from the Lamp of Jiuwei. The windy balustrade sways the cinnabar sparks. Chilly eaves dampen the pure splendor. 的为 It does not mind being surrounded by little moths but is just scared by the fluttering of the flies in the morning.

As it is the time of sunset, the magnificent banquet is also supposed to end and the venue switches from the public sphere to private one — beside the gossamer curtain of the boudoir.

Meanwhile, what also changes is the degree of illumination: the sun has already set but the moon has not risen yet. Comparing with the splendor of the magnificent banquet in the ray of sunlight, the degree of illumination at this transitional stage of the day is dim and dusty, which also sets a gloomy tone for the rest of the poem. However, a lamp lights up the dim and dusty surrounding.

Its flame scatters the glow of crane and its radiance is as if the Lamp of Jiuwei. While the crane is a symbol of purity and loftiness, the Lamp of Jiuwei is the lamp that is used to light up the hall when Emperor Wu of Han called up and meeting up with the immortals.137 In other words, this lamp lighting up the boudoir is an unusually refined one which is embedded with pure and unsullied characteristics. But unfortunately the pure and unsullied glow of the lamp is threatened

136 Yutai xinyong jianzhu, 5.210. This poem has also been translated by Anne Birrell in New Songs from a Jade Terrace (page 151-2).

137 Ban Gu , attrib., Han wudi neizhuan (Beijing, Zhonghua shuju, 1985), 2. !76 by the wind and chill. Its flame is swaying in the windy chamber and its splendor is gradually vanishing under the chilly eaves. And in the following couplet the persona further clearly states: it is nothing serious that some harmless little moths surround and dim the glow of the lamp, while the real threat is the fluttering of the flies, the dirty insects which are often used to allegorize villainous people, since they will tarnish the purity and loftiness of the lamp.

In the previous poem on moon composed by Shen Yue, the moonlight stresses the emptiness of the female voiced persona’s residence and her loneliness but also illuminates and pacifies the mind of the persona. As for the radiance of the lamp in this poem by Shen Manyuan, it is also an accompaniment, comfort, and even allegory to the lonely persona in her dim and gloomy boudoir. However, the lonely and abandoned female-voice persona in Shen Yue’s poem seems to finally find peace of mind from the moonlight at night while the persona in Shen

Manyuan’s poem, in the end, still cannot reconcile her mind to the loneliness and abandonment.

And being left in the dim and gloomy boudoir alone is not a real concern for the female-voiced persona in Shen Manyuan’s poem, for what she truly cares is being abandoned because of the mean slander and tricks of the villains — like the radiant lamp being surrounded by the flies. By allegorizing the female-voiced persona with the lamp and including her inner psychological world in the last couplet, Shen Manyuan’s poem actually transfers the persona from a pathetic abandoned woman to a respectful heroine of great moral integrity who is suffering from calumny.

Liu Xiaochuo vs. Liu Lingxian

Like Shen Yue and his granddaughter, Shen Manyuan, Liu Xiaochuo and his sister, Liu

Lingxian, also have composed poems on similar themes. The following are their two poems on the female persona listening to music: !77

138 Listening to Courtesans in the Night: a Poem Composed on the Assigned Topic of “Crow Cries in the Night” Liu Xiaochuo 家139 The strings of pheasant cease the tune for the present. 140 The Melody of Crane stops the note for the moment. There is a special one, “The Song of Crow Crying”: east and west, they are flying apart. Courtesan grieves for keeping alone. Wastrel roams and has not returned yet. It is like hearing a song of parting-in-life, Through the long night she sobs into her gossamer clothes.

In the late night, two other songs on separation, “The Tune of Pheasant” and “The Melody of Crane”, have already stopped, whereas the song that is playing at the moment is a special one named “The Song of Crow Crying.” Although “crying crow” is a commonly used motif and imagery in the Southern Dynasties poetry and a number of the Yutai xinyong poems are also titled as “The Song of Crow Crying,” these “crying crow” imagery and poems do not always signify the same meaning or refers to the same anecdote. Instead, the poet picks up one of various

138 Yutai xinyong jianzhu, 8.332-3.

139 is the zither strings made from pheasant’s sinews. In some other editions of Yutai xinyong, the term is replaced by which is the name of an ancient tune. For example, in Zhang Heng’s “Nandu fu” , he writes: “the widow sadly recites, the pheasant grievously sings 信.” And Li Shan’s annotation on “Nandu fu” in Wenxuan says: “The source of the Tune of the Widow is not clear: there was ‘The Tune of the Pheasant’ in the ancient ‘Songs of Harmony’ 信.” Thus, it is very likely that or in this line refers to a song about separating with one’s partner.

140 refers to another ancient tune called “Biehe cao” . It is said that “Biehe cao” was composed by Shangling muzi in the Zhou Dynasty. Shangling muzi’s wife did not get pregnant after getting married for five years, and Shangling’s father and brother decided to arrange another marriage for him. After hearing this, Shangling’s wife cried in the middle of the night and Shangling played “Biehe cao" on zither to mourn their separation. (Lu Qinli’s annotation of the Han poem “Biehe cao" in Xian Qin Han Wei Jin nanbeichao shi). !78 anecdotes, historical and mythological references, or just the general imagery of “crow crying” according to his specific expressional purpose in each poem. While “The Song of Crow Crying” being mentioned in another Yutai xinyong poem by Xiao Gang in Chapter 2 of this thesis refers to the anecdote of Liu Yiqing being forgiven by the emperor and shows the benevolence and special favour of the ruler towards the protagonist, the imagery of “crow crying” and birds flying apart in two directions in this poem are likely to just refer to a general parting song. And it is also possible that the poet refers to the sound of a real crow who cries for the separation with its partner, which then makes this song a special one compared with the strings of pheasant and The Melody of

Crane.

While the first half of the poem presents the music playing at this very night, the second half of the poem turns to depict its potential listener --- the lonely courtesan in her chamber. This courtesan, alone, is longing for her lover who travels afar. On the surface, her situation is like the crying crow, which are both separating with their beloved one. But they also differ from each other in terms of the expected outcome of the separation. While the imagery of birds flying apart in two directions often symbolizes an eternal farewell in classical Chinese poetry, the state of the lonely courtesan’s roaming wastrel is “has not returned yet,” which implies the hope and expectation of eventually getting reunited with her lover. Moreover, such hope and expectation are also shown in the scenario created in the last couplet: the courtesan would cry with her gossamer clothes if she heard a song about parting in life, such as “The Song of Crow Crying.”

Gossamer clothes is a conventional object appearing in Southern Dynasties love poems. It refers to either the beautiful clothes that the women wear or the clothes made by a woman for her partner or lover. In other words, it is either an object that enhances the beauty and attractiveness !79 of women in front of men or a token that delivers the love and affection of women to men. In either case, it is something that is used to form and increase the bond between a man and a woman. Therefore, the action of crying with gossamer clothes in the last line of the poem indicates the courtesan’s mixed feelings which contains the sorrow of separation, the hope of keeping the love and the bond between her and her partner, and one’s powerlessness toward the predictability of life and fate, whereas the cry of the crow earlier in the poem is replaced by the cry of the courtesan in the last line.

141 Hearing Thrushes The Wife of Xu Fei, Madame Liu , The trees in the courtyard under newly cleared dawn, 後. In front of the mirror, she emerges amongst carved beams. 信 Wind blows the smell of peach and plum, the sound of spring birds is being passed on. 信 As if quietly playing out the flute tune at sunny mountain, 去 it all sounds like the reed pipe by the bank of the Luo River. 又信 Focusing on pleasantly lingering and listening, She accidentally leaves the makeup unfinished.

While the first couplet presents the scenes of the trees in the newly cleared morning and the carved columns in the residence of the protagonist, it also reveals the visual perspective of the protagonist: she sees these scenes inside her residence — either from the courtyard or in front of the mirror which is supposed to situated in woman’s bedroom. At the same time, the female protagonist is enjoying the fragrance of peach and plum as well as listening to the singing of the spring birds. However, the second couplet of the poem clearly indicates that it is the wind that blows the smell of peach and plum to her while the sound of the birds is also being passed on to

141 Yutai xinyong jianzhu, 6.261-2. This poem has also been translated by Wilt Idema and Beata Grant in The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China (page 148). !80 her. In other words, although the protagonist is enjoying the smell and the sound of the nature, she is only able to stay inside the house and passively receive all of these.

As the title indicates, the particular spring birds that deliver the sound in this poem are called . It is a type of songbird whose vocal organ can produce various different elaborate bird songs, and this is also why it is named as (hundreds of tongues). For the protagonist, the singing of these spring birds sounds like the flute at sunny mountain at first and then the reed pipe by the bank of the Luo River. The flute at sunny mountain derives from the story that Xiang

Xiu passed by the former residence of Ji Kang ⾥ and heard the neighbour playing the flute, which made Xiang Xiu think of his deceased friend, Ji Kang.142 As for the reed pipe by the

Luo River, it refers to the immortal, Prince Qiao , who wanders beside the Luo River and plays his reed pipe as if the singing of phoenix.143 Thus, despite the fact that the protagonist is a woman who is physically staying inside her residence, the diverse musical singing of the birds makes it possible for her to undertake a spiritual journey across vast distance outside her boudoir

— from the sunny hill to the Luo River. And she is so focused on listening to such pleasant musical sound and is so indulged in this spiritual journey that she even forgets to do her own makeup which is her supposed daily duty in the boudoir.

At the beginning of the poem, the poet presents the image of a woman staying in a restricted indoor space and doing feminine activity: she is facing the mirror, presumably doing her makeup. She just happens to hear the singing of the birds from the outside. Such singing not

142 Jinshu, 49.1375.

143 Liu Xiang , Liexian zhuan quoted in Hou Hanshu. !81 only brings her pleasant musical enjoyment but also spiritually transfers her from the indoor feminine sphere to the outdoor male’s world. Nevertheless, no matter how much she indulges in such musical world and the transgression that it brings to her, the moment that she realizes she still has unfinished makeup to work on is also the moment that she has to return to her original indoor feminine sphere. In the “crow-crying” poem by Liu Xiaochuo, the music at the night only reminds the female protagonist of the sorrow of the separation while the mingling of her crying with the crying of the crow further stresses her powerlessness towards the unpredictable life and fate. As for the female protagonist in Liu Linagxian’s poem, on the other hand, music provides her a possibility of transgressing her pre-defined role — although the transgression is eventually negated, since she eventually still has to return to her original sphere to fulfill her feminine role.

Coda

While the Southern Dynasties male poets took the voice or image of the female courtesans in the poetry to present themselves and communicate with each other in political and social occasions, later their poems were included in the Yutai xinyong, an anthology intended to collect poems on women for palace ladies’ education —- as discussed in the previous chapters.

Out of the male political and social context, what these poems present to their potential female readers are themes like female courtesan in love, the abandoned lovesick lady, and the lonely courtesan waiting for her beloved one to return. Although there is almost no extant source on the

Southern Dynasties’ palace ladies’ reception of these poems on women, a comparison between

Shen Manyuan and Liu Lingxian’s poems and their male relatives’ works included in the anthology also indirectly reflects how female readers at the time may receive these Yutai xinyong poems. !82

In the first pair of poems, the mutual affection and desire between the female protagonist and the male poet under the pen of Shen Yue turns to be the admonition to the female protagonist to take the proper moral code into account when she faces her beloved gentleman’s romantic and sexual desire in Shen Manyuan’s poem. In the second pair, Shen Yue and Shen Manyuan both depict an abandoned lady at night. But Shen Yue mainly focuses on the loneliness and isolation of the lady as well as how she finds peace in this circumstance, whereas Shen Manyuan’s poem emphasizes the pure and lofty characteristics of the abandoned female protagonist and indicates that the real reason for her agony is because of being slandered. And in Liu Xiaochuo’s “crow crying” poem, the “The Song of Crow Crying” reminds the courtesan of her separation with her lover as well as allegorizes her powerlessness toward the unpredictable fate. On the other hand, the music in Liu Lingxian’s poem makes it possible for the female protagonist to escape from pre-defined feminine role and obligation even though it is just a temporary transgression. For the

Southern Dynasties’ male poets, their poems on female courtesans’ performance is a poetic re- performance in the social gathering-together. And the female readers’ reception and rewriting of these poems is then another re-performance. In their re-performance, female poets present similar themes, subject matters, and general depictions as their male counterparts. Nevertheless, the moral integrity is more strengthened in the works by female poets and the topic of transgressing the pre-defined feminine role and duties is also touched on by the female reader-poets. !83

Chapter Five

Conclusion

While it was the ethos of the time in general for women to have various talents in the Six

Dynasties, the women who drew the attention of the historians and literati in the early and mid

Southern Dynasties were those ones distinguished themselves by their extraordinary wisdom and intelligence. Since the middle of the Southern Dynasties, there were increasingly more aristocratic women and palace ladies with particular competence in literary skills that were recorded in historical works. Thus, the ethos of women in the Six Dynasties saw the transition of women being praised by various different talents and virtues to highly literary women gradually being valued the most. As it is noticeable that the dynastic histories of the Southern Dynasties record a large number of imperial ladies with exquisite literary skills, this is not just because of the tradition of educated aristocratic women in the Six Dynasties in general but also results from the Southern Dynasties rulers’ attaching more importance to the education of palace ladies: there was the case of Han Lanying who was employed by the imperial court to palace women classics, and it was also a common practice of the time for scholar officials to compile furen ji works for women to read with the content of stories and poems on women.

Under such social and cultural environment, the Yutai xinyong, an anthology features poems on women from Han Dynasty to its contemporary Southern Dynasties, was compiled by

Xu Ling, a renowned scholar official at that time. In the preface of the Yutai xinyong, the compiler clearly states that the anthology was compiled for palace ladies to read, explains why it is a proper reading material for palace ladies, compares it with other women’s education methods in the past, and even mentions palace ladies’ participation in the editing of the work. And the !84 strict taboo between court official and palace ladies also makes it less likely for the compiler to allegorically attribute the compilation and editing of the anthology to palace ladies. Based on all of these social, historical, and cultural backgrounds as well as the analysis of the preface, the

Yutai xinyong was more likely to be an poetry anthology that was intended for palace ladies to read at the time of its compilation.

On the other hand, the poems included in the anthology were not originally written for the purpose of palace ladies’ education. Majority poems in the Yutai xinyong are poems on women written by male literati in the Southern Dynasties. As poem on female music entertainer is a popularly adopted theme in the anthology, this thesis explores the purpose of composition and underlying significance of these male literati’s poems on women in the Yutai xinyong through examining these poems on female courtesans included in the anthology. Most of these poems on female music entertainers were composed at the banquet of the Southern Dynasties court. In the setting of the imperial banquet, the role of the literati poets and the female entertainers, to some extent, were similar. They were both the ones who entertain the emperor and the royal patrons — the female entertainers provided music performance while the male poets amused their patrons by poetic compositions. In addition, poetic compositions at the imperial banquets were the means for male poets to demonstrate their literary competence so as to receive career promotion as well as other rewards and both literati guests and the patron also used the literati banquets as a way of building up political network. Therefore, when a literati poet composes a poem on these female entertainers, he not only depicts the performance of the female entertainer but also presents another performance – his own poem. In this poetic performance, the poet and the female entertainer that he portrays form a synthetic unity. And the male poets take the voice and the !85 image of the synthesized female protagonists as exquisite disguises to communicate with each other and present their own personal, social, and political expressions.

However, these Southern Dynasties male literati’s poems on female entertainers were later selected into the Yutai xinyong, a poetry collection for the education of palace ladies at the time.

And when the potential female readers of the anthology read these poems, they understood and received these poems on female entertainers differently. Despite lack of extant source on the

Southern Dynasties’ palace ladies’ reception of these poems, a comparison between Shen

Manyuan and Liu Lingxian’s poems and their male relatives’ works included in the Yutai xinyong also indirectly reflects how the potential female readers may receive these anthologized poems, since it is very likely that Shen Manyuan and Liu Lingxian have read the poems by their grandfather and brother. For the male literati poets, they watch the performance of the female courtesans and then present an imaginative and performative portrayal of the female protagonists in their poetic compositions. When these poems are passed on to their female readers, they read and rewrite these poems — which becomes another re-performance. In their re-performance, the

Southern Dynasties female poets emulate the style, the themes, and the subject matters used by their male counterparts. But the moral integrity, the inner psychological states of the female protagonist, and the desire for transgressing the pre-defined feminine role are also strengthened or at least hinted in these re-performative compositions by the female reader-poets. And the compilation of the Yutai xinyong, the composition of the anthologized poems, and the potential female readers’ reception of the poems together form a dynamic interaction that presents layers of performativity. !86

As there are very limited extant sources on the compilation of the Yutai xinyong, the education and the literary activities of the palace ladies in the Southern Dynasties, and the potential female readers’ reception of the Yutai xinyong, this thesis tries to piece together all the relevant fragmental information from the historical records as well as gather up the broken clues by reasonable inference. Certain arguments and reasoning of this thesis surely could have been more thoroughly consolidated if more extant sources were available. But nonetheless, hope this thesis will shed light on or at least provide some alternative perspectives on the compilation, the poetry-composition, and reception of the Yutai xinyong as well as the palace culture in the

Southern Dynasties in general. !87

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